The Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service in London, England, have decided to do away with the Fireman Sam mascot because he wasn’t “inclusive enough”. Sam is being replaced with three “gender-neutral” fire hydrants.
Metro is reporting that the decision came after the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service received complaints about Fireman Sam, writing…
“Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service said that they had received negative feedback because the mascot was not inclusive enough.”
This comes after years of using the mascot to help promote fire safety, in conjunction with the show that has been airing on the BBC for the last 30 years.
The decision was further hammered home by the chief fire officer, Lez Britzman, who told the outlet…
“Firefighters nationally and residents locally have raised some concerns that ‘Fireman Sam’ doesn’t reflect the fire service today, in terms of both the job itself and our workforce.”
‘It’s important to us that our open days and community events don’t make anyone feel excluded and therefore we took this decision. ‘We always make sure that we include plenty of activities and other ways to engage children and adults, to help them learn more about fire safety and a firefighter’s role.”
This isn’t just going to apply to a single station, it’s a county-wide decision. All the Lincolnshire service stations have been ordered not to use Fireman Sam as a mascot for any future promotional purposes or to advertise the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue department.
This was accompanied by tweets from the London Fire Brigade, who posted the following messages on September 11th, 2019.
Despite want people might want you to think we’re not saying that by watching Fireman Sam adult women will think they can’t be firefighters. But we are saying that children do learn about roles and job titles when they are little. pic.twitter.com/CTDVCeJpuf
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) September 11, 2019
We do know that young girls and women are not thinking about a career as a firefighter. Our research has found that this is because they have grown up being told or thinking it’s still a job for men. pic.twitter.com/6Y3PHzTb58
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) September 11, 2019
Anyone who has a young child will tell you just how impressionable cartoons are. And yes we know they’re not real but for kids they matter. Language used on TV and in print is really important because it can and so often does reinforce really outdated stereotypes. pic.twitter.com/wzvb1Y3LZT
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) September 11, 2019
As pointed out by Metro, only 5.2% of firefighters were women, as of 2017. According to Career Smart, the numbers went up in 2018 to 7.46%, compared to 92.54% of men who occupy roles as firemen in the U.K.
That’s about 2% more than the amount of women who are tractor-trailer truck drivers in America, which rests at 5%, according to a now deleted page from the Department of Labor. The number of female firefighters is even smaller than that, though, coming in at just 4% as of 2018, which was reported by Govtech.com.
But as pointed out by Business Insider, being a fireman is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, so there’s really no mystery as to why women don’t occupy many positions in the fire department. It’s dangerous, laborious work that requires a lot of peak physical fitness and mental fortitude to deal with the arduous and hazardous conditions that come with it.
While being a firefighter in the U.K., isn’t typically listed as one of the occupations with the highest toll of fatal injuries, it’s still hard work, and removing a fan-favorite mascot to accommodate outrage culture isn’t going to change the reality of that work.
Just remember: fires don’t care about your feelings and they sure as heck don’t care about your gender.
(Thanks for the news tip Wondy Bergers)