Passing fire crew helped at scene of Manchester synagogue attack | Manchester News

A passing fire crew stopped to help at the scene of the Manchester synagogue attack before any emergency services were called, Greater Manchester’s mayor has revealed.

Andy Burnham said “lessons had been learned” since the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, after which an inquiry found key failings in the response by emergency services – as fire crews were initially held back from the scene.

Burnham said firefighters had since had training “in dealing with a marauding terrorist attack” and “they self-deployed” to the attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, where two Jewish people were killed.

Armed police also attended within minutes – shooting dead attacker Jihad Al-Shamie – and the mayor praised the response by all services as “coordinated” and “highly professional”.

Burnham said there was “individual bravery” in 2017 when “a lot of people did their best” but the organised response was not as it should have been.

This time, firefighters “went to the site themselves without having received a 999 call and that shows now the change and the level of confidence in our firefighters to deal with an incident of this kind”.

The mayor said the use of bleed kits also had a big impact.

“That wouldn’t have existed back then in the same way or certainly the ballistic protection that they now have, so all of that created the confidence to go into the synagogue and provided first aid under the cover of firearms officers,” he said.

He said it showed an improved “level of coordination” between police and fire crews who “created a first aid response that was there before North West Ambulance Service”.

Burnham said the fire service then worked well with paramedics.

The mayor also praised the members of the congregation at the synagogue who “reacted incredibly bravely in the moment”.

He said the reactions of some of those who barricaded the door against the attacker “contributed to the protection of many more people and stopped it being a much more serious incident”.