According to the National Observatory on Crime and Criminal Justice Responses (ONDRP), the number of assaults reported by the fire service rose by 17.6 per cent last year.
Insults, spitting, physical violence against firefighters or damage to equipment… Every year, many firefighters are attacked whilst on call or at their fire stations. According to a report published on Wednesday by the ONDRP, the trend is actually rising sharply. Indeed, last year, the number of reported assaults rose by 17.6 per cent compared with the previous year: 2,280 firefighters reported being victims of an assault in the course of their work in 2016, compared with 1,939 in 2015.
Alongside the rise in reported attacks, the number of consecutive days off work for victims and the cost of damage have also increased. In 2016, 1,613 days of sick leave were taken (+36.1 per cent compared with 2015), and the cost of damage soared by 183.4 per cent between 2015 and 2016. During the latter year, 414 vehicles were affected, resulting in an estimated loss of 283,442 euros.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine has been particularly hard hit
According to the report, such acts of violence are reported throughout France, but some regions are more affected than others: Nouvelle-Aquitaine has the highest number of assaults, with 406 cases in 2016. Next comes Hauts-de-France, with 366 cases, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with 301 attacks in 2016. In fourth place is the Grand Est region, with 267 cases in 2016, followed by Île-de-France, with 230 cases.
"We’ve all been insulted at least once," said Patrick, a volunteer firefighter interviewed on BFMTV on Wednesday. He works at the Chanteloup-les-Vignes fire station, in the Yvelines department, which has been particularly hard hit in the Paris region.
More than 1,300 complaints filed
"I have colleagues who’ve been punched. Another one has already been hit by a Molotov cocktail. As for me, I had stones thrown at my helmet – it was extremely violent." - the firefighter told our colleagues at BFMTV.
Across the country, 52.1 per cent of the victims were professional firefighters. In total, the reported assaults led to 1,337 complaints being lodged, meaning that 58.6 per cent of victims took legal action. In 2015, this figure was higher: 65 per cent of firefighters who were assaulted chose to file a complaint.