"We've lost it": Bonfire Night in 'f****** Gotham City' where firefighters face 'pack of wolves'

Last night, a firework was shot at Salford firefighters hosing down a car fire. It exploded just 20 yards in front of them.

Then, as if it was nothing, they turned around and focused again on dowsing the Audi — or what was left of it. The car was smouldering on Liverpool Street, and was reportedly packed full of fireworks to make the perilous situation even more dangerous.

The fire had already claimed much of the hatchback when Salford’s white watch arrived, and their watch officer instructed his firefighters: “We’ve lost it now.”

READ MORE: Explosions heard as car engulfed in flames before emergency crews attacked

Their job was damage limitation, and the car was no longer a threat to public safety only minutes after the blue lights arrived.

The firefighters couldn’t be sure what was inside; one had his suspicions ‘an accelerant’ had been poured over the interior. Whatever it was, it lit up with a blue, green, and white flame.

Dealing with potentially-fatal car fires is par for the course for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS). On Bonfire Night, so is being shot at with fireworks.

November 5 is usually GMFRS’ busiest night of the year. At times, the brigade was attending 33 incidents simultaneously on Tuesday evening. Between 6pm and 10pm, that figure reportedly didn’t drop below 20.

Bonfire Night is also the most dangerous evening firefighters face annually. Some 22 were attacked between September and mid-November last year, GMFRS says, as they dealt with 1,167 deliberately-started fires as part of 10,000 anti-social behaviour incidents seen across the city-region in the same timeframe.

Troublemaking is on the up, emergency services believe, with assaults on emergency workers around Halloween and Bonfire Night surging by a fifth last year.

The Liverpool Street car fire was one of a dozen ‘turn-outs’ the Manchester Evening News attended with crews from Salford fire station on Tuesday. During the course of the MEN’s five-hour stint on the pumps, firefighters tackled the Liverpool Street car blaze, faced a barrage of abuse in Miles Platting, and counselled amateur fire-starters on how to manage their bonfires.

They were so busy, at one point, one firefighter joked Ordsall was ‘like f***ing Gotham City’. Just over an hour later, after shift-change, another crew was in Miles Platting.

A large bonfire was ablaze next to railway arches, and near some houses, sparking fears it could spread. As crews disembarked from the fire engine, roughly 20 children and teenagers swarmed round the four-strong team, shouting ‘this is our fire’ and warning them to ‘f** off you boring c***s’.

Then, more chillingly, a man declared: “We’re like a pack of wolves ready to attack.” He put on his balaclava.

Fortunately for the GMFRS gang, he was pushed away and told to shut up by fellow residents. Those residents then asked other firefighters to pose for photos with their children as the watch officer is thermally-scanned nearby houses to ensure they’re not affected by the bonfire.

This appalling level of abuse is nothing new to this watch. Two hours earlier, approaching a bonfire on Goodiers Drive, masked men threw a shopping trolley in front of the fire engine to stop it getting nearby.

In between intimidation, firefighters battled an Eccles fuse box fire, put out burned-out-wheelie-bins on Moor Lane near to where Salford City FC play, and told young teenagers to stop putting plastic on a bonfire in Weaste.

As the MEN’s shift came to an end, one joked he ‘wouldn’t use the q-word’ in expressing his hopes he’d have a quieter night. Two minutes later, the siren sounded again.

The crew kitted up, and were off under blue lights. They faced another nine hours of this.