Gangs of yobs as young as 12 targeting Merseyside firefighters with missiles

With Bonfire Night just days away, preparations are gearing up by Merseyside Fire and Rescue (MFRS) staff to ensure celebrations are managed correctly.

During the same period last year, the number of attacks on fire officers increased as they dealt with call-outs. Anti-social and dangerous use of fireworks also rose while staff found themselves targeted.

Speaking after a successful Mischief Night in which officers went unharmed, Mark Thomas, group manager for community safety, told the LDRS boys as young as 12 had tried to target staff on their rounds. Officer Thomas issued a warning to parents ahead of Bonfire Night, urging them to take responsibility for their children and their whereabouts.

The amount of emergency calls into the fire service across Merseyside went up by more than 50% as the service was challenged by the number of bonfires that posed a “serious risk to public safety.” Officer Thomas said at the start of this month, a spike was reported in anti-social behaviour (ASB) against fire crews, with police reporting similar issues among their staff.

He said: “The ASB is potentially linked to arson through secondary fires, bonfires and use of fireworks. We are seeing the ASB really as a result of the 12 to 18 year old age bracket and predominantly males as well.

“We’ve had a couple of incidents where crews have had fireworks directed and fired at the appliance and themselves as well. One in particular of note on the Woodchurch estate in the Wirral, which occurred mid-October.

“Attacks like this we’d like the public to recognise they’re very, very serious. We are there to do a job, we are there to protect the community.

“We don’t welcome behaviour of this kind and we certainly don’t tolerate it.” All fire appliances are equipped with CCTV and where possible, information on those responsible is sent to Merseyside Police.

Officer Thomas said fire crews are instructed to approach scenes with care and will scope out areas before engaging. He said: “They will conduct a drive by, they’ll have the windows up on the appliance and they’ll have their full personal protective equipment on, helmets, PPE, which protects you up to a degree, but it doesn’t protect you in your face, it still doesn’t stop you from getting hurt.”

October 30 marked what is known locally as Mischief Night with a low level of reports associated with bonfires recorded. A multi-agency response known as Operation Banger is in force throughout this period, with Merseyside Police confirming a 20% drop in ASB reports across the region last night.

When asked what might drive youngsters to target staff, Officer Thomas said: “I think for the first place, it appears to be packs of youngsters, so peer pressure perhaps, the element that it may be fun or a bit of an adventure to do that could come into play.” The community safety officer added how the availability of fireworks remained a concern, with MFRS only approving regulated traders.

He added: “They’re very, very dangerous, they’re explosives, so you can get easily injured yourself by mishandling fireworks. Outside of that, I don’t really know where else, there’s a pack mentality that goes on, I feel, and I don’t think that youngsters appreciate the consequences of their actions and what that can lead to, an attack on an emergency worker is a criminal offence, so you can end up being charged, end up with a criminal record and essentially affecting your career potential and your opportunities later in life through one silly action.”

Officer Thomas also stressed the role families and parents have to play in keeping communities safe during Bonfire celebrations next week. He said: “We’d like parents to take some responsibility for their children and speak to them around the dangers of fireworks, the dangers of attending bonfires and not to engage in any kind of antisocial behaviour because it can affect you for the rest of your life.

“It’s double-edged this for me, it’s a thank you to the community for being fairly sensible irrespective of the few spikes we’ve had in violence at work, but we need that work to continue and make sure that the parents are sort of the children, children are not engaging and bowing down to peer pressure amongst each other.”