Firefighters attacked as they battle blaze in Yorkshire 'putting lives at risk'

Youths threw bricks and other missiles at the team as they put out an outdoor fire at Stainland Road in Sowood, near Elland in West Yorkshire, on Monday evening (Sep 26).

Thankfully, no one was hurt but fire vehicles were damaged. One of the bosses at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS), Scott Donegan, warned this kind of attack put lives at risk.

"Too often now we are hearing reports of our crews being attacked by youths as they respond to calls – this is totally unacceptable,” he said.

“We all know the dangers involved in tackling a fire. It is a challenging enough situation without our teams having to deal with attacks from young people that clearly don’t understand how reckless their actions are. We are working with police to find those responsible and I would ask local communities to help educate these young people and speak to them about their behaviour.

"It not only has a huge effect on our crews, but it can also lead to young people being arrested.”

Another fire crew also have missiles thrown at them on Monday evening in an unconnected attack in Bradford.

A report that went to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority last week detailed attacks on firefighters since the start of the financial year.

The majority happened in Bradford and involved firefighters being assaulted, stoned, or threatened with weapons.

Area Manager Donegan added: “As a service we will continue to work with a number of partner agencies to ensure our communities are safe for everyone – and that includes firefighters.

"These attacks have to stop, as they could end up putting the safety of residents at risk.”

Chief Inspector Richard Sumner from West Yorkshire Police said: “Assaulting an emergency service worker is totally unacceptable, no one should go to work and be attacked in this way.

“West Yorkshire Police campaigned actively as part of the ‘Protect the Protectors’ campaign for stronger sentences for assaults on police officers and blue light colleagues and has made it clear that tolerating abuse isn’t part of wearing the uniform.

“We take these assaults seriously and would encourage anyone with information about these incidents to come forward.”