Dumfries and Galloway Standard
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY, Scotland — Firefighters were bombarded with verbal abuse and stone missiles while attending incidents last year.
Crews insist they take incidents of violence very seriously and will follow them up with police action.
Figures from the Scottish Government show Dumfries and Galloway crews were attacked four times while responding to emergencies during 2011/12.
A spokesman for the Fire Service told the Standard: “Historically, incidents of violence against employees tend to happen on or around bonfire night. This year there was one incident around bonfire night in which a stone damaged an appliance windscreen.
“The other three incidents - one in August and two in the January to March quarter - were related to verbal abuse or obstructive behaviour of the public. “In each case the health and safety adviser was made aware of the incidents and ensured they were recorded as instances of violence.
In very much the same way as near misses, the service aspires to ensure there is no under-reporting while also wishing to reduce instances of violence. “The spokesman added: “We take any incident of violence against firefighters very seriously and are very fortunate that the figures are very low.”
In five years crews have come under fire from thugs 13 times with four happening during 2010/11, two in 2009/10 and three in 2008/09. During bonfire night two years ago firefighters came under rocket attack when they tried to put out an unauthorised bonfire in Dumfries.
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