A BONFIRE Night blitz erupted across Strathclyde last night and the Evening Times joined Calton Fire Station's White Watch to see the action first-hand.

A BONFIRE Night blitz erupted across Strathclyde last night and the Evening Times joined Calton Fire Station's White Watch to see the action first-hand.

We took to the streets to witness the pressures fire crews face on November 5 - and the dangers aren't just from the flames.

In six hours of mayhem thugs:

FIRED rockets at firefighters from Polmadie.

THREW bricks at Greenock crews, smashing a fire truck window.

FORCED a Clydebank crew in Knightswood to retreat from a blaze.

SMASHED a fire engine's windscreen.

SET LIGHT to a derelict school.

ATTEMPTED to lure firefighters into hoax rescues.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said: "Yet again we have firefighters coming under attack.

"When a fire truck has its windscreen smashed this means it can't be used again until the damage is repaired, putting other lives at risk. Our crews do a difficult enough job without worrying about being attacked."

And the fire teams were stretched to the limit as they tackled more than 419 fires, 107 of them in Glasgow alone, a 20% increase over last year.

At one fire a crowd of youths gathered to hurl abuse at the firefighters.

White Watch were called to assist a crew from Easterhouse Fire Station who were tackling a blaze at the now-derelict St Clare's Primary School.

As the crews battled to get the flames under control a gang of youths gathered to shout obscenities at them.

And some even hid behind the building and cried for help in a bid to trick the fire crew into entering the burning school.

Watch Commander Gary Stewart said: "Abuse from young people is very common, especially on a night like tonight, but it's hard to understand.

"In the past we've seen kids on Bonfire Night use scaffolding tubes as rocket launchers to shoot fireworks at us.

"We are here only to help and when the gangs gather it can be very intimidating."

Commander of Calton Station Mark Roden said November 5 is a frustrating night for fire crews as they are repeatedly called out to non life-threatening fires.

He said: "We are often called away from our patch to tend to secondary fires in other areas.

"This means that if a major incident happens in our area then we're not there to help out.

"We spend most of the night running around putting out rubbish that has been set alight. And unfortunately, where there is a fire, the youths look at us as targets rather than as trying to help them.

"Our partnership with Strathclyde Police has been a great help in cutting attacks but there is still a fear we may be targeted."

For the past three years, Strathclyde Police have offered a police escort to crews in the worst-hit areas.

Thanks to the partnership, Calton crews have been free from attacks.

But last night three sickening assaults were made against firefighters from Polmadie, Clydebank and Greenock.

At 6pm in John Street, Greenock, the local crew suffered bricks being thrown at their truck, smashing a window.

At 8pm a watch from Clydebank fire station were forced to retreat as vandals in Knightswood shattered the windscreen of their appliance.

And shortly before 7pm fire fighters from Polmadie Station called for emergency police backup as a gang of thugs fired rockets at them.

All three appalling attacks forced the appliances out of action - meaning crews were short of vital equipment.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said: "These are three incidents out of 400 but they are still three too many."

To help cope with the increased pressure on Bonfire Night support centre staff are given extra training.

Gillian Thomson, manager of the operations support centre, which processes calls from the public, says plans for bonfire night are in place six weeks in advance.

She said: "We anticipate increased traffic on November 5 and we put safeguards in place to make sure that everything is well organised and to minimise stress.

"Double the number of staff are laid on and training is given to ensure the night runs as smoothly as it can."

Tonight also promises to be busy for Glasgow's fire crews as the celebrations continue at Glasgow Green.

The display was postponed to make way for last night's Celtic v Manchester United game, which ended in a 1-1 draw.