By Louise Andrew Scotland's news website

As a sign of the times, and to take account of the new skills that are used, the brigade recently changed its name to the fire and rescue service.

Its bread and butter tasks now include cutting car victims free from road crashes, promoting the fire safety message and being ready to respond to the threat of terrorist attacks.

Firefighters attend a small grass blaze in Greenock

But, while the service and its dedicated staff are reacting to the changing world we live in, one thing refuses to go away.

Fire crews are continuing to fight a rearguard action against malicious pranks and violent attacks.

In recent years, the level of violence directed at fire crews has risen sharply.

This has left some within the service to grimly predict it's only a matter of time before some firefighters get seriously injured or worse - lose their lives.

Simply for kicks, there are people who will cut holes in the wooden floors of stairs and cover them with carpets in order to "trip up" fire fighters.

On Wednesday night, Greenock fire service answered a call to extinguish a small blaze in bushes at rough piece of ground.

They'll cut holes in the wooden floors of stairs and cover them with carpets Jim Logan Strathclyde Fire and Rescue

The call only took moments to answer and attend and was considered routine by assistant divisional officer David Adam.

Sadly, this routine call was far from accidental and consequently tied up vital resources designed to safeguard Inverclyde against real emergencies.

Mr Adam, who has 32 years in the service, told Scotland's news website: "We'll be back here again tonight -I've no doubt about it."

He said the problem of malicious fire-raising had only appeared in the past few years.

Stones, bricks and knives

The culprits tend to be in their teens, and Greenock firefighters are often greeted at scenes with stones, bricks, knives, and threatening behaviour.

Other times their access to a fire is blocked with things like sofas, or they'll have expensive equipment stolen or vandalised.

Some are fairly sophisticated setups organised by gangs.

One of the crew Jim Logan says they often target derelict tenements and set up booby traps.

He explained: "They'll cut holes in the wooden floors of stairs and cover them with carpets.

Jim Logan, a firefighter in Greenock, inspects the equipment

"Then they'll set the flat above and the flat below alight. A firefighter will get killed in the end."

Despite these incidents, the crew's morale remains high.

They insist it doesn't affect their ability to do their job, and in most cases, according to Mr Logan it's not the public or their property that's at risk.

He said: "I've never seen them target a genuine call out.

"I couldn't see that happening. These are fires that they start themselves. It's the firefighters who are at risk."

The Greenock crew blame easy access to drugs, unemployment, and a growing culture of arson among local youths.

When Mr Adam joined the force as a young man it was a very different service. He says it was closer to the community, in the same way as the local bobby was.

Station visits

"We used to do more in the local neighbourhood.

"Like regularly check all the fire hydrants ourselves. That would give us the chance to chat people and for them to get to know us," added Mr Adam.

Now such routine jobs have been hived off to other parts of the service so firefighters can focus on their fire and rescue role.

However, he says they still organise some community initiatives to help develop a rapport with local youngsters like station visits and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

In other parts of Strathclyde, CCTV cameras have been installed on fire engines on a trial basis in a bid to stem the attacks.

Firefighters are threatened with bricks and knives

This has led to at least one conviction for assault against a firefighter.

But the Greenock crew said they're sceptical of its real benefits, since many of the teenagers they face wear hoods and scarves across their faces.

The Scottish Executive brought in new protection for emergency workers a couple of months ago, and it's now an offence to assault someone providing an emergency service.

Mr Logan said he hoped the law would help to deter attackers, but he said the police couldn't give them the back-up they needed - and if the police aren't there no-one gets arrested.

He added: "There was a time when we had police escorts to go into some areas.

"But now it is hard to get enough support from them."