Attacks on firefighters have fallen by just over a third in the last year, new figures reveal.
Crews were attacked 112 times in 2011-12, with one person injured, down 35% on the previous year when 172 attacks were recorded and 14 firefighters were injured.
The most common form of attack last year was objects thrown at firefighters or their appliances, which happened on 50 occasions.
Firefighters were subject to verbal abuse 38 times in 2011-12 and physical abuse nine times, while eight cases of harassment and seven other acts of aggression were logged.
The figures, published by the Scottish Government, show a slight fall in the number of staff in the country's fire and rescue services. At the end of March, the workforce totalled 9,040, down 16 on a year ago and down from 9,314 logged in 2009-10.
The workforce comprises full-time crew, retained and volunteer firefighters, control staff and support staff.
Just 14% of fire services staff is female and less than one percent belongs to an ethnic minority group.
Fire service staff carried out 56,545 home safety visits last year: an average of one for every 44 homes in Scotland. During the visits 46,395 smoke alarms were installed.
Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham praised the work of the fire and rescue services, saying that they "do a fantastic job protecting the public, whether it is putting out fires or helping to prevent them from happening in the first place".
She said: "Today's figures demonstrate that our Fire and Rescue Services are taking the importance of fire prevention very seriously. I firmly believe it is an improving awareness of the risks of fire in our homes, which can be averted through simple measures such as installing a smoke alarm, that has seen a 29% reduction in house fires since 2001-02.
"I thank everyone associated with our Fire and Rescue Services, and other partners, who have helped to spread this message through home fire safety visits and other community safety initiatives.
"But none of us can be complacent. Every house fire is one too many and that is why the Scottish Government and fire services continue to work hard educating people about fire prevention measures they can take."
However, the fire service union has said the problem of attacks on personnel is much bigger but is underreported because firefighters have come to accept abusive behaviour as part of the job.
A spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union Scotland commented: “There is almost an assumption by crews that they will be verbally if not physically abused while doing their job. I suspect these numbers are where the incidents are reasonably serious. Nine out of ten incidents, where fire personnel are verbally abused in the street, probably don’t get reported. Unfortunately, it’s seen as part and parcel of the job and it’s that culture that we need to tackle and that we need to change.”
Scotland's eight fire services are being merged into a single national body: the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. It is being created as part of a major shake-up of Scotland's fire and police, which the Scottish Government says will save £1.7bn over 15 years.
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