BRADFORD can take no pride in the fact that a third of all attacks on fire service staff in West Yorkshire last year took place in the city. It beggars belief that there are sufficient statistics for such a matter to be recorded but, nonetheless, there were 76 incidents logged against firefighters in the period.

It is bad enough that members of an emergency service simply trying to do their job saving lives and preventing or reducing damage to property should be the subject of verbal abuse or just generally aggressive behaviour. But some of those incidents have involved the throwing of missiles or fireworks and, on three occasions, firefighters have been stoned by a group of assailants.

It is hard to understand the mentality of any person who would see a member of service dedicated only to helping others as a suitable subject for vile insults or physical attack with potentially lethal objects. What could they possibly hope to achieve by it?

Sadly, those who perpetrate such acts appear mainly to be youths or children, which begs all sorts of questions about the way they have been brought up and the attitudes that have been instilled in them towards symbols of any sort of authority. How could any parent condone the idea of throwing things at firefighters or allow their children to believe that such an action was acceptable?

West Yorkshire Fire Service, with some success, have carried out extensive preventative work with members of the community and have worked hard to engage youngsters and educate them. But the fact that such effort is even necessary is a sad indictment on the way our society is allowing children to be brought up.