The Seattle Fire Department said their new policy to double staffing on blocks home to some of the city’s busiest homeless shelters will continue until fire crews feel safe again doing their jobs.
Asst. Chief Bryan Hastings said firefighters have been assaulted, swarmed by unruly crowds even had people steal gear from their engines and aid cars while they have been working on patients in and around Pioneer Square.
“We want to make sure we’re protecting the firefighters, we’re protecting the patient and we’re protecting the assets the city is trusting us with – mainly our rigs and our equipment,” Hastings told KOMO Tuesday. The department cited a May 18 assault of a firefighter outside the Union Gospel Mission as the catalyst for the change in policy,