Firefighters were forced to take cover after a man twice attacked a fire truck, but the attacker has come off second best – falling and knocking himself out.

It is the second attack on emergency services staff in a little over a week, after a paramedic was left with a broken foot, cuts and bruises when attending to an incident in Reservoir.

The hellish night for three Richmond fire station crew began when they were called to an apartment fire in A'Beckett Street in the city at 8.30pm on Friday.

On Victoria Street, Richmond, near to Charles Street, a man blocked the fire truck and began attacking it, ripping off a wiper blade and bashing the windscreen repeatedly.

The fire truck was able to manoeuvre around the man, then rushed to the apartment fire. The fire was declared a false alarm by a second truck that arrived before the delayed Richmond crew.