A crew from the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service took swift action to protect the public from two loose pitbulls on New Year’s Day.

The team sounded an emergency siren to distract the “aggressive” animals, used their truck as a shield, and even delivered a distressed mother and her toddler away from the scene.

When Bermuda Police Service officers arrived, they discovered one of the dogs lying lifeless on the road after it was reportedly hit by a car and were forced to use pepper spray to fend off the other before it was caught.

A BFRS spokesman said that an on-duty crew at the Port Royal station was in the process of transferring equipment in the fire truck when the incident unfolded on Monday morning.

He explained: “As they proceeded, eastward along Middle Road, they witnessed a young man run into oncoming traffic with two aggressive pitbulls close on his heels.”

The scene became “mayhem” soon after. The spokesman said: “They observed these dogs attack not only oncoming vehicles but the fire truck as well.

“Multiple people were attacked as these quick-thinking firefighters used the truck siren to distract the dogs and the truck itself to shield oncoming traffic and pedestrians from the dogs.

“During this time, they encountered a highly distressed mother who was walking her toddler in a stroller.”

The woman told The Royal Gazette: “I’d passed a bike rider earlier who told another pedestrian that there were two stray pitbulls and that one had bitten the ankle of his boot, so I was on guard looking out for them.

“I picked up a big stick, but I really don’t know what use it would have been.

“I was terrified because I had my two-year-old son in the stroller and we were walking home from the playpark — I had no option but to pass the area where the dogs had been seen.”

The mother explained that when she saw the fire truck, one firefighter lowered his window and indicated for her to stop where she was.

As the advice was offered, the dogs appeared near Lukes Pond Road, the woman said.

“They looked like big, strong animals and were running out of control,” she recalled. “The firefighter urged me to walk back the way I had come from and to keep going, but I was worried to let the fire truck out of my sight.

“As I glanced back I could see that the crew was trying to block the dogs’ path with the vehicle. But before long the firefighters drove to where I was and advised me to get into the truck, where they offered to take my son and me home.

“They even stopped to collect the stroller I had abandoned on the Railway Trail as we passed, and they called out to other people — a cyclist and pedestrians — to alert them to the risk.”

The mother added: “I am so grateful to that crew — they were quick to act and did what they could to control a chaotic situation.

“I really don’t know what I would have done if I had encountered those dogs without the firefighters around. I would like to thank them all very much.”

A spokesman for the BPS said that at about 11.20am on Monday, officers were sent to the Cliff Crescent area of Southampton “to a report of two pitbull dogs on the loose”.

He explained: “Upon arrival one of the dogs was found lying lifeless on the roadway after it had reportedly been struck by a car.

“The other remained on the loose and officers were informed it had bitten two people.

“Officers eventually located the dog at a residence on Cliff Crescent. They were forced to use Captor spray to keep the animal at bay.

“The animal warden was called in and the dog was captured without further incident.”

Animal wardens were expected to provide responses to questions about the incident today.