Children as young as 10 in third attack on fire crews
Fire fighters have been attacked in Sunderland by gangs of youths for the third time in less than a week.
A fire crew responding to an incident in Commercial Road, Hendon, at 8.20pm on Monday, were attacked by a large group of youths.
The yobs threw stones at emergency service workers who were trying to extinguish a fire which had been started deliberately.
It’s the third time in under a week that S underland firefighters have been attacked by large groups of youths whose actions have been condemned as‘ disgraceful’ by members of the community.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, Chris Low th er, tweeted: “For the third time in a week, fire crews were attacked last night by a large group of youths. This time in Hendon.
"Some of the attackers were as young as 10 years old.
"Parents, do you know where your kids are and what they are doing?”
Firefighters were threatened and pelted with rocks by groups of youths in Down hill on Thursday and Saturday evenings last week, making this the third incident in less than a week.
A spokesman for TWFRS added: “A large pile of refuse had been set alight by Commercial Road in Hendon.
“Whilst the fire fighters were dealing with the incident, a group of young
people started throwing stone sat them and their vehicle. Thankfully, no one was injured and the damage caused to the fire engine was minor.
"Parents, do you know where your kids are? Please teach them that firefighters are not invincible – they’re men and women with families, who work hard to keep people safe. They deserve respect, not violence and abuse.”
Following the two inci dent sin Down hill, Mr
Lowther said f irefighters will only be responding to secondary fires in that area when police are able to provide support.
One incident smashed the windscreen of a targeted response vehicle – which meant it had to be taken out of action for repair.
The fire service are calling for anyone with any information about those responsible to report it to FireStoppers anonymously atwww. fire stoppers report. co.uk or on 0800 169 5558.