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A depressing News release from the Fire Brigades Union in the UK....
BBC Link
Fire Brigades Union Link
There are now 40 attacks reported among the UK's 60,000 Firefighters every week, with many going unreported...it's feared that there may be 2000 attacks per year now.
Aren't we lucky!!!:(
That is unbelieveable.
I would request that the local constabulary provide escort to the firefighters and arrest anyone caught interfering with fire operations. It would be nice to hand the little blokes a nice stiff sentence in the local borstal, but unfortunately, The Criminal Justice Act 1982 abolished the borstal system.
There has to be some kind of juvenile lockup to deal with these little punks.
SteveDude..
I can't even imagine the additional stress placed on fire crews.. Glad I left when I did. Do you get much cooperation from the coppers?
I heard at one point that they were considering placing video surveillance on the appliances.. did that ever happen?
All I can add is helmet on, head down and stay safe. The worst public reaction we face here is verbal criticism regarding temporary tax hikes when we have to buy a new engine.
Thoughts are with you and your crews.. miss my time in the UK, but glad we never had to deal with anything like this. :mad:
Trouble is Gonz...
The Police are busy dealing with the rise in crime elsewhere...as reported today in the Newspapers... Violent crime has increased by up to 40% in some areas year on year.
Fawlty...
You wouldn't believe this place today...it is like Civil war in some places.
There are Fire Crews in some areas that do not see the Station during the afternoon and evening...yet still they keep cutting us back.
There are quite a few areas that have CCTV on Fire Engines now. A sad fact of life in 21st Century Britain, this sometimes help's but with wet liberal laws that are all in favour of the Human rights of the criminal instead of the victim...not a great deal happens to these 'Little Angels'...
This is whay a lot of us want to go the way that you did when we retire... across that pond to spend our hard earned retirement money where we won't get mugged for it.
SteveDude,
I have an ex-colleague that's still with the UK service, visits me annually.. we had quite a long chat about things in Blighty, from all accounts, it doesn't sound good. He was going on about the rise in lawsuits.. especially those against emergency service workers.. from his account, has got the ambulance chasers over here beat hands down. What between lawsuits, attacks against firefighters and Camilla.. I'm going to Florida for my next vacation, not back home!!
Are there attacks against Fire Prevention Officers in schools?? Is there any respect left even amongst the youngsters?
Well, you certainly looked after the guys from my Department when they visited you, so if I can ever repay the favour and set you up in the Inn business here in Lil' ol Wisconsin when you retire, just give me the nod!! ;)
Seriously Steve, stay safe... My best wishes are with you and your crews..
Cheers
Maybe it's time to think about firefighter safety and stop responding into the high incidence areas until the police are available to escort them in.
I realize there may be some costs, as in increased fire damage and maybe even a slight increase in civilzation deaths, but in my opinion, there does come a point where firefighter safety becomes the priority.
Just my thoughts.
Is it a natural "evolutionary" progression that cities have to go through this? It certainly sounds like you guys in England are going through something very similar to the "war years" that NYC and other cities here in the States went through in the late 1960's. You would think that we as a people would learn something from others experiences. Oh well, eventually all the substandard areas will be burned down by their self destructive occupiers and the area will be clean for reinvestment and revitalization.
Then the cycle can repeat itself all over again in another 100 years or so because as a society we're just to darn stupid to learn anything. We'll do the exact same things that we did before.:rolleyes:
I quess I'm just in a cynical mood today.
WOW - thats all I can say. Steve are the problems more in the Midlands (Ireland is just a given). Are the attacks mainly by youth?
I totaly agree that the justice system in the UK has gone to pot. Bring back corporal punishment in the class (best thing I remember) and let parents deal with the kids in a proper manner - yes thats right, a good spanking or strapping!
Good luck - If I were you I wouldnt take any S*** from those thugs!
Stay safe
Dave
Chris...
London suffered the 'Bronx' factor...but without the crime and disorder in the 60's and 70's...just too many empty Buildings after the war that took decades to get round to...many areas of the East end when I was a kid looked similar to the Bronx.... burned out Buildings empty lots etc...etc...
The cause was different..the result the same.
But in the late 80's London became a very development rich City, I was based in one of the last areas that were still attending a lot of derelict Building fires. London is an amazingly rich City...second only to Tokyo, an average house in London costs £280,000..about $520,000. We have Millionaires living on top of Crime ridden Sink Estates (projects)so unique is the demography of the City. We get our share of attacks on Firefighters... a lot of it is 'crossfire' stuff where a fire has been started by one gang to get at another in a house or a car or a shop etc..we just get hammered for trying to put it out
The trouble really lies in the Old Industrial Towns. The UK has virtually no manufacturing industry left, Bluntly, the Country is basically kept afloat by the very Wealthy South-East...with the exception of a few other prosperous areas.
These Towns have become Ghettos, no money, no prospects, no employment... Buildings lay empty Housing is abandoned and trouble moves in. There are Fire Stations in certain parts of the UK that are phenominally busy...with 'Peak Hours' Pumps being brought in just to covere the busy times.
This is where the Violence is deliberate and almost epidemic. Fires are lit, just to get the Firefighters in and then they are attacked for sport. Times have been bad in the UK before... a lot worse, but people seem to have lost decency and respect. The Law in almost worthless with so many liberal policies in favour of the Criminal and the damned EU Human Rights sh1t that we signed up to is a joke. (I Swear the Europeans have dome this to punish us for 'past crimes')
Dave, in answer to your question, it is predominantly in smaller Towns right across the UK... literally those I mentioned above, not just Northern Ireland, Scotland or the Midlands...There is even evidence of this happening in some of the less desirable enclaves of better or rural areas... I don't know what the answer is... we need a big big change in Direction, not disimilar to what happenned in NYC...but on a National scale!!! Sadly, although it is mainly Teenagers, there are plenty of reports of adults also responsible for these crimes.