'Tide turns' on fire crew attacks

Attacks on firefighters have fallen by 8% in Scotland

Assaults on firefighters in Scotland are gradually decreasing, according to the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), though attacks in England continue to rise.

The union claimed the fall of 8% in Scotland could be attributed to national strategies put in place with support from the Scottish Government.

However the FBU stressed there was still much work to do to reduce the figures further.

Firefighters regularly reported being threatened, intimidated and abused.

Some claimed they had been pelted with bricks, bottles and stones as they fought fires, or even attacked with lumps of wood, knives and hammers.

Easy targets

In Scotland there were still 316 attacks on firefighters last year, compared with 324 in 2005-6.

Yet across the UK there are 40 attacks on fire crews every week according to the new research.

A independent report - Easy Targets?, commissioned by the FBU - claims that under-reporting could mean the true figures are much higher than official statistics suggest.

ATTACKS ON FIREFIGHTERS Strathclyde - 171 Lothian and Borders - 71 Grampian - 8 Fife - 36 Highlands and Islands - 3 Dumfries and Galloway - 3 Central - 14 Tayside - 10

According to the report, despite UK Government figures that show a fall of 68% from 1,300 in 2005/6, actual numbers - obtained by a Freedom of Information request - demonstrate they rose 15% to 1,504.

Ken Ross, FBU Scotland secretary, said: "It is almost beyond belief that fire crews are attacked and abused while fighting fires and trying to save lives.

"Yet in some areas attacking fire crews has become a recreational activity with very serious consequences."

Attacks were also slowing down 999 responses, he claimed, putting whole communities at risk, while consequences for fire crews could be "very grave".

He added: "Physical injury is an obvious danger but the threat of attack or persistent verbal abuse can demoralise, cause anxiety and increase stress."

The recent Scottish figures offered some hope, he said, but he insisted that one attack was still one too many.