Firefighters say they face increasing rates of violence while on duty
By Canadian Press on December 21, 2025.
HALIFAX — Firefighters say they are facing increasing levels of violence on duty, and they’re asking the federal government to step up legislation.
In a survey of over 117 fire departments in Canada, 40 per cent of firefighters have experienced an assault within the last five years, says Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters. Kelly also said he believes incidents of violence are under-reported.
“We had a Toronto firefighter bitten by a patient,” Kelly said in an interview last month. “In Winnipeg, we’ve seen a severe rise; we’ve had 58 reported incidents in Winnipeg this year alone.”
The Canadian Press reached out to several firefighters unions across the country, as well as municipalities, to see if they kept their own statistics on reports of violence.
Several declined to respond, and others said they did not have those statistics available.
Kelly says violent incidents can range from verbal abuse to physical attacks, and consequences can be deadly.
“In Idaho, an individual lit a fire, drew in the fire department, and then shot firefighters, killing two of them and severely injuring another. We had a paramedic in Kansas City stabbed in the back of an ambulance and died,” Kelly said.
The IAFF says the frequency of these violent incidents is increasing, something that Jeremy Quillian, the president of the Moncton Firefighters Association, agrees with.
Quillian says the unhoused population in Moncton has grown larger in recent years, and several people have found shelter in wooded areas around the city.
“Sometimes we’re going into the woods for a bonfire complaint or a sighting of smoke, and we’ll startle them. They can get verbally aggressive with us. And when we’re out on these calls we do notice that they have weapons to protect themselves,” Quillian says.
Quillian says violent incidents are common during medical calls as well, especially in overdose situations. “When we wake the patient up they can be verbally or physically aggressive towards us.”
Although the Moncton Firefighters Association doesn’t keep specific statistics on reports by members, Quillian said in an email that there has been an increase in violent incidents while on calls or even at the fire stations. “Our members have reported incidents of their vehicles being vandalized while at work, reports of verbal altercations while on calls as well as physical assaults while on calls.”
A firefighter for over 16 years, Quillian says he sits down new recruits and squad members to let them know that the job has changed over the years. He says he tells new firefighters that they may have questions about certain calls, and that there are peer supports available to talk through anything they encounter on the job.
For Kelly, the first step in making the environment safer comes from the federal government. In November, Kelly travelled from the IAFF head office in Washington, D.C., to Ottawa, to speak with officials about strengthening the legislation around assaulting first responders.
Kelly advocated for changes that have been included in two pieces of legislation: the Liberal government’s bail sentencing and reform act, and a Senate Opposition bill. Both propose amendments to the Criminal Code to offer firefighters similar protections as police officers and transit workers.
The senate bill was introduced in September but has not yet been debated in the House of Commons.
The government’s bail reform bill, introduced by Justice Minister Sean Fraser in October, has passed its second reading and is now being studied by a House committee.
In an email, a representative from the Department of Justice says “the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of protecting emergency personnel from acts of violence; everyone deserves to work in an environment that is free from abuse.”
Kelly says the IAFF would like to see both pieces of legislation adopted.
“First and foremost, what we want to do is draw a line in the sand,” Kelly said. “If you assault firefighters and paramedics in Canada, there are going to be stiff penalties.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2025.
Emily Baron Cadloff, The Canadian Press
25-24
Yes this has been the case in Lethbridge as well! I have watched paramedics and firefighters assaulted over the years when responding to suspected overdoses and when it is from an overdose, and paramedics use lifesaving measures/Narcan, the addict will sometimes wake up angry, verbally abusing them and/or assaulting them.
One summer night while watching fire/EMS respond to a popular gas station downtown, where a person appeared to be passed out in the driveway while behind the wheel, several members from LFDS/EMS had to break the window of the vehicle to get to the person, while others who hang out in the area were observing, and one person threw a cup of coffee on one of the members . . . thankfully soon after several members of LPS arrived.
The drug crisis has pushed our first responders to the limit and often, caused loss time due to injuries and stress from dealing with fatal overdoses and other trauma from the job!
Allowing encampments, sleeping rough, and loitering all night so the druggies can commit crimes when the shelter has plenty of room is unacceptable!
Police, more than once have stated the encampment residents commit 60%-70% of the crimes in the area! Police, fire and EMS respond often to the areas the people are encamped, sleeping rough and loiter . . . so when will we learn? When will enforce existing laws.
They will not stay in the shelter because they cannot conduct their criminal activities there . . . I say again ‘criminal activities’ . . . yet we allow it! The shelter now run by the Blood Tribe Health Department is run well, but the lawless bunch to will not stay there try to mislead all who ask stating it is have lice, bedbugs, or the staff demands sexual favours . . . all untrue but they try to sell the lie to anyone who asks.
The costs to the taxpayers for allowing these encampments, sleeping rough and loitering all night in business areas is in the millions each year when you add up all the costs . . . when will we see this ended?
There will be calls next budget to cut the police budget . . . this is not a wise idea, but historicallly whenever budget cuts are needed, policing is at the top. That is insane because when money is tight, more crimes are committed . . . ‘historically’.
If police didn’t have to deal with all the crimes from this lawless group the costs would be much lower. When EMS and fire doesn’t have to respond multiple times per day to this group, their costs would be lower.
Why is it so hard to focus on the common denominator . . . “the encampments, sleeping rough and loitering” to cut these costs, cut the number of assaults against first responders and save the taxpayer some hard earned dollars?
You never hear of all of the assaults on our first responders . . . they happen!
There is a reason whenever EMS responds to possible overdoses, they are accompanied by fire!
When you read stats on the Alberta government website overdose surveillance section and look at how many overdoses Lethbridge EMS responds to it states low numbers that would equate to less than one per day per month . . . yet . . . I see them respond multiple times per day to a person suspected of overdosing . . . that is misleading when you look at those stats! The only thing I can assume from this is that they only count the response as an overdose when the person is taken for medical treatment!
There are days, especially when many of the addicts get their AISH checks or welfare checks, when fire/EMS respond 10-15 times within 8 hours to suspected overdoses, and each time the numbers increase, the chances increase of being assaulted by an angry addict who was revived . . . that means had their life saved . . . but now is screaming at the paramedic for ending their ‘high’.
If people only knew . . . ! I applaud you for your service!