Dibs

Irish firefighters are commonly assaulted by hooligans who stab them with used hypodermic needles and trash their firetrucks as they attempt to fight conflagrations and save lives, according to a new book, Firecall: True Stories of Irish Firefighting & Rescue, by Ruairi Kavanagh, former editor of Firecall magazine, the official journal of Irish fire and rescue workers. “Officers at Dolphin’s Barn Station regularly get pelted with bottles and stones while trying to put out bonfires near council flats,” reads a report in the Irish Examiner. “Fire engines would respond to callouts in lanes, a vehicle would trap it from behind and it would suddenly come under attack.” One firefighter lamented: “Firefighters in the US and Canada do not have the threat of attacks hanging over them every time they answer a callout. It simply doesn’t happen there.” Also from the article: “In Dolphin’s Barn Station, thieves would sometimes ring in hoax 999 calls, then ransack the building when the firemen left. Fireman Gerry Sterio said: ‘We had cases here where we’d actually come back from a callout and met guys carrying a television out of the station.’” … Wow. As we approach the 9/11 anniversary, this book is a jarring revelation indeed. It seems to Dibs! that some people don’t deserve to be saved. Unfortunately, they often live on the same streets and in the same houses as people who do.