‘Fireman Sam puts women off joining service’

FIREMAN Sam is putting women off joining the fire service because “most of the job is nothing like it is portrayed”, a female chief has said.

Alex Johnson, a senior fire officer, believes the CGI firefighting idol and images of men rushing into burning buildings does little to encourage gender equality. She is campaigning to attract more women into the service as just 5.2 per cent of firefighters in England are women. In 2017 there were 1,838 female firefighters compared with 33,782 male firefighters.

“This is largely because of the image of firefighters portrayed in the media, which is of men rushing into burning buildings,” Ms Johnson, temporary deputy chief fire officer for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, said.

“Children’s shows like Fireman Sam don’t help to break down stereotypes either. Most of the job is nothing like it is portrayed.”

Ms Johnson has fronted a social media campaign to get women to join, which focuses on children singing the praises of their firefighter mothers.

It comes after Dany Cotton, London Fire Commissioner, revealed last year that she had been bombarded with abuse after her campaign to encourage people to refer to “firefighters” rather than “firemen.” She had suggested that Fireman Sam should be renamed Firefighter Sam as part of a campaign to encourage more women to join the fire brigade.

A spokesman for Mattel, which represents the Fireman Sam brand, said the company was committed to representing the work of all firefighters appropriately through the show.