Fire crews double up as violent attacks rise
FIREFIGHTERS are having to send twice as many staff to incidents to provide back-up in case of violence.
After a sharp rise in attacks on crews, the service is having to send two engines to calls where there is a high risk of trouble.
Sending one crew to deal with the call and another to deal with firefighter safety is increasing response times and diverting resources.
But the surge in incidents in which crews have been lured to locations before being attacked by mobs of youths has left officers in need of protection.
There has been a 75 per cent rise in attacks on local crews compared with 21 per cent nationally. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) recorded 89 incidents in the first 11 months of last year compared to just 51 in the whole of 2016.
The borough with the sharpest increase in attacks was Manchester, which has seen a substantial 163 per cent rise year-on-year, with Wigan (110 per cent) and Salford (75 per cent) second and third respectively.
In November firefighters attending incidents across Greater Manches- ter were on the receiving end of 28 attacks – during the same month in 2016 and 2015 the recorded figures were 12 and six.
Attacks include objects thrown at firefighters/appliances, verbal abuse, harassment, physical abuse and other acts of aggression.
Carl Gleaves, crew manager at Bolton Central Fire Station, said: “Something that we potentially could be at within three minutes, mobilizing from the fire station, if it’s coming further afield all of a sudden that’s looking like five to seven minutes.
“That’s time for a fire to develop, for smoke to accumulate, and sadly that can be the cause of injuries and worse.”
Rick Ogden, head of protection and area manager for GMFRS, said that during his 20 years with London Fire Brigade he could count the number of attacks on one hand, yet attacks are ‘commonplace’ for GMFRS.
Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in Greater Manchester, said they have taken steps to deter attacks by fitting 360 degree CCTV to appliances and body cameras to firefighters.
However, Gary Keary, Brigade Secretary for the Fire Brigade Union, said: “A camera will only record an attack taking place, it doesn’t stop it or deter it.”