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Fire crews 'attacked 40 times a week'
Fire crews are being attacked 40 times a week, assaulted by bricks, bottles and stones as they tackle blazes, the Fire Brigades Union said on Monday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:55 February 11, 2008
London: Fire crews are being attacked 40 times a week, assaulted by bricks, bottles and stones as they tackle blazes, the Fire Brigades Union said on Monday.
Other incidents include ambushes, booby traps and attacks with lumps of wood and knives.
"In some areas attacking fire crews has become a recreational activity, with very serious consequences," quipped Matt Wrack, the union's general secretary.
The union said attacks had risen 15 per cent to 1,504 in England and Wales in 2006-07. That compared with data from the Department for Communities and Local Government which showed a 68 per cent fall to 400 over that period.
"The government figures are ridiculous," Wrack told BBC radio.
In Tyne and Wear, the fire authority has distributed "spit kits" to run DNA checks on those spitting at crews.
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