Firefighters 'Ambushed'

AN EDINBURGH fire crew was attacked by a gang of stone-throwing children after being drawn into an ambush.

The crew came under attack from at least a dozen youngsters when they arrived in Burdiehouse to put out burning bales of hay.

A senior fire source said today there was little doubt the fire - just days after ambulance and fire crews were attacked as they went to help a man who had fallen at Braid Hills - had been started deliberately to lure a crew to the area.

The attack came as MSPs today demanded urgent action to curb the rising number of attacks on emergency service workers.

A motion signed by 32 MSPs asked the Scottish Executive to take "all necessary steps" to protect the emergency services. Police escorts and CCTV cameras on vehicles have been suggested as ways to tackle the problem.

In the ambush on firefighters yesterday afternoon, the hay bales had been doused with petrol and dragged into an underpass near Burdiehouse Road before being set alight.

One of the officers caught up in the attack at about 4.15pm said crews from Liberton fire station had been subjected to a string of abusive incidents in the last few weeks.

"There is little doubt they attempted to set the straw alight so a crew would attend and as they go about their work the youngsters

attack," the officer said. "They think it’s funny and hilarious because the crew have to stop what they are doing. It’s intimidating when you have a dozen youngsters lobbing stones at you and shouting abuse."

The straw bales had not properly caught fire and the crew, led by Sub Officer Jim Fleming, were damping it down when the gang of children began throwing stones.

Police were called and were able to apprehend two of the youngsters, who were taken home and warned in front of their parents.

However, Mr Fleming said Liberton crews had been having problems with youngsters in the area for some time and it was not unusual for them to be subjected to verbal abuse.

"We’ve had a problem up there for a couple of weeks where cut straw has been set alight regularly," he said.

"We’d already answered a call up there yesterday morning and the council had gone in and cleared the straw but when the schools came out it was inevitable it would happen again."

The officer, who has been a firefighter for 26 years, said the stone-throwing incident was not an isolated occurrence.

He said: "It is definitely getting worse and becoming an every-day occurrence where it seems to be the normal thing to attack a fire crew. This happens day in and day out.

"It makes our jobs very difficult to do and is extremely worrying."

The motion to the Scottish Parliament, tabled by Labour backbencher Karen Gillon, condemned the "mindless attacks" on firefighters, ambulance staff and police officers. It called on the Executive to "take all necessary steps" to protect emergency service staff.

In the incident in the Braid Hills, a firefighter and an ambulance officer were attacked shortly after the fireworks display which marked the end of the Edinburgh International Festival.

The crews had been on their way to help an injured man when they were assaulted by a gang of 30 youths.

Lothian and Borders Brigade recently banned crews from certain estates without police escorts.