Most of the weekend’s fireworks festivities went off without incident, with the public attending many of the organized displays across West Yorkshire.
Bonfire week
Bonfire week is always one of the busiest of the year for fire crews and this year was no exception, with the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service control room receiving 1672 calls from 17.00 Thursday 4th November to 00.00 Sunday 7th November.
The crews attended 374 incidents across the region.
emergency response
People following fire safety advice and acting responsibly at organized events and while celebrating at home"
Area Manager for Service Delivery, Scott Donegan said, “Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to our fantastic staff who have worked incredibly hard over the last few months to ensure a safe and enjoyable bonfire weekend."
He adds, “Historically the bonfire period is one of our busiest weeks of the year. However, this year we have seen a drop in the number of calls requiring an emergency response and this is down to people following fire safety advice and acting responsibly at organized events and while celebrating at home."
assaults on emergency services
Scott Donegan continues, “We would also like to thank our partner agencies, community volunteers, and community pioneers who have pulled together to support us around the bonfire period.”
Unfortunately, there were four incidents (over the time frame mentioned above) where WYFRS crews came under attack, while simply doing their jobs. While this number is down on previous years, one attack on their crews is one too many and WYFRS will assist their partners at West Yorkshire Police with any action they take about assaults on emergency services.
