With more local first responders being attacked, the Spokane Fire Department is looking to buy bulletproof vests.
From having rocks thrown at them to shots fired in the area they’re responding to, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer explains their job has gotten more dangerous. “We’ve had acts of violence, actually perpetrated onto assaults onto all of the disciplines of first responders, EMS, fire department,” Chief Schaeffer said. “The volume and the nature of our jobs have changed so much we’re actually in reaction mode all the time.”
Schaeffer said it used to be rare, but now he’s getting calls weekly from EMS or firefighters saying they were hurt by someone they were trying to help.
“All of us have been in situations where there have been shots fired or a shooting, or a bomb that may or may not have been detonated,” he said.