Firefighters attacked by 'around 30 youths' while attending wheelie bin fire

Firefighters from the brigade were tasked attending a wheelie bin blaze – but when they arrived, they found “around 30 youths” setting fire to wheelie bins and wood.

In a statement released on Tuesday, August 18 the briggde said the group became violent, verbally abusing the crew and throwing missiles.

The incident – which happened at Cass House Road in Hemlington, Middlesbrough – damaged an engine.

Cleveland Police officers were called to the scene to support their fire service colleagues, but both received further abuse.

Steve Johnson, Senior Area Manager Prevention and Engagement hailed the youths’ behaviour as "unacceptable”.

He said: “Our job is made even more difficult by the thoughtless actions of a minority who in this instance deliberately set fires and damaged a fire engine, making that vehicle unavailable for emergency response.

“Such violence puts firefighters at risk of injury or even worse and Cleveland Fire Brigade will not tolerate such attacks.

"Our vehicles are fitted with CCTV cameras and staff are equipped with body cams and we will use any evidence we have to support the police to secure a prosecution of anyone who has been violent towards our staff.

“Deliberate fires such as these divert resources and run the risk of us not being able to respond to a life-threatening incident.”

Last month, the emergency services came together to condemn attacks on their staff after an increase in such incidents during lockdown.

Cleveland Fire Brigade alone saw 13 such incidents beween March and May 2020.

With regards to the fire call-out in the early hours of Monday, August 17, a police spokesman added: “It was reported that a large group of adults and youths were causing damage to nearby properties and vehicles and were burning items in the middle of the road.

"When colleagues from Cleveland Fire Brigade attended, they were subjected to abuse.

“This type of behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances and our colleagues from the fire service should not be attacked when they go work.”

Contact 101 with any information about the incident, quoting 133867.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Hartlepool Mail website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app.

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here.

Thank you.