Halloween: Fire Service reports 22% increase in emergency calls - and two attacks on crews

Fire crews in Northern Ireland were attacked with fireworks and missiles during two separate incidents on Halloween night.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue reported a 22% increase in emergency calls and responses on Saturday night despite strict Covid-19 public health measures being in place across the region.

Crews dealt with hostile members of the public throwing missiles, including fireworks, as they responded to two calls. Crew members were forced to withdraw for “safety reasons” at one of the incidents. Nobody was injured.

A spokesman for the service said it received 83 emergency calls and responded to a total of 62 incidents between 6pm on Saturday and 1am on Sunday. This equates to a 22% increase on the same period last year.

Eighteen of these incidents were bonfire-related.

Paddy Gallagher, from the NIFRS, said: “We had anticipated a potential increase in the number of people who would be making their own arrangements for Halloween night.”

“We appealed to the community as a whole to ensure they took greater care this year,” he said.

“People don’t understand that firefighters are part of their own community and they work tirelessly to come to people’s lives and come to their aid in these areas,” he told BBC News NI.

“Their jobs are dangerous enough without having to deal with these threats.”

There were no injuries to crews.