Firefighters attacked by youths at scene of Belfast blaze

One firefighter sustained a cut to their nose during the incident while damage was caused to a fire appliance in attendance.

Detailing the incident in a post on social media today (Tuesday, January 17), a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said: “Last night at 8.15pm, firefighters were called to reports of an electric box on fire on the Suffolk Road in Belfast.

"Two fire appliances from Springfield Fire Station attended the incident.

"Unfortunately, our crews were attacked by youths with stones when we arrived on scene. This resulted in one of our firefighters receiving a cut to the nose, and two windows in a fire appliance being broken. Firefighters withdrew from the incident for safety reasons at 8.26pm.”

The spokesperson added: "Our firefighters are here to keep the community safe. This attack was senseless, and we are calling on the community to support us by not attacking our firefighters. Every time someone attacks our firefighters, they are making their own community less safe.

"We are aware that this sort of behaviour comes from a small minority of people. People deserve to feel safe in their communities and we will continue working closely with community groups, statutory agencies and elected representatives to try and prevent attacks like this from happening again in the future.”