Shock attacks on Wigan's firefighting heroes

At least 8,600 attacks have been recorded by fire brigades across England since 2010-11 – and more than 500 firefighters have been injured as a result.

Home Office statistics show crews from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service were at the centre of 712 of those incidents, with 82 attacks recorded by the fire service in the year to March.

Wigan crews haven’t been immune from assaults either, having been pelted with rocks and even lit fireworks when arriving to put out illegally set fires.

It came to the point several years ago when they had to install dashboard camer both as a deterrent and to record any illegal activity as evidence.

In light of the figures, police chiefs vowed to use the full force of the law against those who subject emergency workers to “deplorable” attacks.

Since recording began just over a decade ago, 39 Greater Manchester firefighters have been physically injured in attacks, with five of those requiring a hospital stay due to serious injuries.

During that time, crews were subject to 31 incidents of physical abuse, had objects thrown at them on 282 occasions, had verbal abuse directed at them 326 times, experienced 19 episodes of harassment and dealt with at least 54 other aggressive incidents.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “Any attack on firefighters – who are providing a humanitarian service – is something to be

deplored.

“It is paramount that fire and rescue services provide appropriate support to firefighters who are subject to such attacks, including taking into account any mental health effects of these incidents, and being understanding when it comes to sick leave.”

Verbal abuse is the most common type of attack recorded nationally, accounting for 57 per cent of incidents recorded by fire services since 2010-11.

Around a quarter of incidents involved objects being thrown at firefighters, while five per cent were physical attacks.

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