22 April 2005
The Fire Brigades Union has called for the government to fund a nationwide strategy to tackle increasing violence against firefighters.
Releasing figures which showed the growing extent of the problem, the FBU said that only the government had enough money to support a national training programme to help prevent further attacks.
FBU research showed there are 40 attacks on firefighters each week across the UK – more than 2,000 each year. The actual number of assaults could be three times as high, as many go unreported.
For example, official figures from Northern Ireland revealed there were 1,200 incidents in the past three years, but the union believes this is 'underplaying' the issue.
In England and Wales in a nine-month period up to January 2005, 393 attacks were reported from 18 out of the 50 brigades. Applied to all brigades over a 12-month period, this would suggest 1,200 assaults.
The violence includes scaffolding poles being thrown through fire engine windscreens, and crews attacked with bottles and bricks. Firefighters have also been shot at and ambushes have been set, with fires being started deliberately to lure in crews. Some fire crews now have police escorts.
FBU general secretary Andy Gilchrist said the number and the ferocity of the attacks were getting worse. 'It can never be part of anyone's job to get a brick or a bottle in the head or be spat at. The causes appear complex and we need more than knee-jerk reaction headlines calling for "crackdowns".'
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