'Unacceptable' spate of attacks on fire crewspublished at 14:55 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021
Firefighters in Middlesbrough have been subjected to a series of violent attacks.
Crews have been called out to the Northern Road area of Whinney Banks 13 times in the past two weeks, where children and youths have been deliberately setting fires.
Cleveland Police said the behaviour will not be tolerated and it is doing everything it can to find those responsible.
Sgt John Sproson said: "It is unacceptable that we have people in the local area purposely going out and setting fires and abusing our emergency services."
Middlesbrough Council’s Neighbourhood Safety team has identified two young people from CCTV footage building fires in Northern Road.
One young person has been issued with a final warning and a second has been visited by police.
Quote MessageOur job is being made more difficult by the thoughtless actions of a minority who deliberately set fires and attempt to injure staff and cause damage to fire engines, potentially making that vehicle unavailable to respond to emergencies and diverting resources away from attending other incidents."
Carl Boasman, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Cleveland Fire Brigade