|
 |
 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Thursday, 1 November, 2001, 14:02 GMT Fire crews attacked on Halloween night  Crews came under attack as they attended bonfires Two fire fighters have been injured after their fire engine was attacked during one of the busiest nights of the year in Northern Ireland. The crew was attending a call-out to a Halloween bonfire in Hilltown, County Down, on Wednesday night when fire fighters were struck with bottles. One of the fire fighters had to have stitches to a face injury, whilst the other sustained a shoulder injury. In a separate incident in County Tyrone, a fire engine was damaged after three petrol bombs were thrown at it in Fintona.
The fire service's area commander, Don McKay, said someone would lose their life if the attacks did not stop. He urged members of the public to help the fire service. "Two of our fire fighters, who are indeed members of the public themselves and give up their time to do a sterling job, have got injured. It's totally unacceptable," he said. SDLP assembly member for south Down PJ Bradley condemned attacks on the fire service, who he said, were recognised worldwide as heroes. "They risk life and limb to protect all sections of society and its property," he said. "All right-thinking people will condemn this attack on firemen. It's just wrong, and the people doing it are just mindless thugs." The Northern Ireland Fire Service said it received 565 calls on Wednesday night - making it one of the busiest nights ever. Most of the calls were connected to bonfires. | |
See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Northern Ireland stories now:  Links to more Northern Ireland stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more Northern Ireland stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend