A shocking video shows the moment yobs launch a firework which misses a firefighter by inches.
The footage, recorded on Bonfire Night, was released by West Yorkshire Fire Service in a bid to highlight attacks on emergency crews.
It shows crew member Jack Furbisher, from Cleckheaton Fire Station, standing in the road as a firework is launched towards him.
The firework flashes past him and explodes as it hits a parked van.
Mr Furbisher was on a call-out in the Beeston area of Leeds when crews came under attack.
He said: “There was a big group of teenagers and straight away, with it being that time of year, it’s in the back of your mind. I had only got off the wagon 30 seconds prior.
“I jumped a bit. Thankfully it did not hit me square in the chest it could have been a lot worse. It’s one of those mindless things that unfortunately we see now and again and it does seem to get worse at that time of year because it’s dark and fireworks are readily available.
“It’s not a nice situation to find yourself in – then you spend the rest of the incident with one mind on the job and one mind looking over your back or your mate’s back.
“I think the firework was about half a foot from me and exploded behind me. Had I been a foot either side it could have been a different story.”
Another clip shows several fireworks being launched at a fire engine on a street in Halifax on the same evening.
Police say they are “standing shoulder to shoulder” with the fire service after they were targeted in a wave of attacks last month.
On Bonfire Night this year, there was one recorded attack in Kirklees, two in Calderdale and 16 overall across West Yorkshire.
One crew from Huddersfield Fire Station experienced a mob of around 100 youths launching fireworks at them at a call out to Thornton Lodge.
Police chiefs this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding with chief fire officers at West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service to ensure both services work together closely to crackdown on perpetrators of attacks.
West Yorkshire Chief Constable Dee Collins said: “The emergency services risk their lives to protect the public and it is totally unacceptable that they should be subject to assault and attack.
“In signing this MOU, we want to send a message to the public that this is intolerable.”
