Piers Morgan challenged a fire chief to ‘fire himself’ for being a white man and said no woman had ever refused to be a firefighter because of Fireman Sam, after a Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service dropped Fireman Sam as a mascot.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service axed the fictional character, who is white and male, over concerns he may discourage women or ethnic minorities from joining the force.
It will now rely on its other two mascots, Freddy and Filbert, which are blue and red fire extinguishers complete with hands, a mouth and eyes.
Les Britzman, Chief Fire Officer, called in to Good Morning Britain this morning for a spirited discussion with Piers Morgan, and said he was trying to increase recruitment among the female populatoin to save lives.
But an agitated Mr Morgan repeatedly asked him why he was not firing himself.
Mr Britzman said that Fireman Sam was not a brand owned by the LFRS so what they could do with Sam as a mascot was ‘restrictive’ and did not help to get across their central message about fire safety, smoke alarms, and escape routes.
He went on: ‘It’s not hypocrisy. Yes I’m a white man, across FRS there’s about 95% white males. Me being a white male does not reflect our society, roughly half our society is female.’
Lincolnshire’s chief fire officer Les Britzman called in and said he was trying to save lives by broadening the recruitment pool
Challenged for the first of many times by Mr Morgan to resign, he said: ‘No, but I will try to recruit more female firefighters.’
Struggling to get a word in edgeways over the irate presenter, the fire chief said: ‘Piers you rang me to interview me, so if I could have word?
‘Yes Fireman Sam is modern it has firefighter Penny, it has helicopters and a boat team. But why can’t the producers or the owners update the brand and call it Firefighter Sam?
‘The programme overall reflects the diversity but the character fireman Sam doesn’t reflect diversity, we don’t call our firefighters firemen any more. It’s outdated.
The CFO went on: ‘Lincolnshire is a very modern and progressive brigade, we have two thirds of our firefighters “on call”, that means the come from their local community.
‘We struggle massively to recruit on call firefighters, and women are not wanting to join they’re not applying. So in terms of keeping the public safe we’re struggling because women aren’t wanting to join.
Piers Morgan said no woman had ever refused to join the fire service because of Fireman Sam
Employees were notified in an email which said that Sam (pictured in the BBC television series), who has been on British televisions for 30 years, ‘does not reflect the inclusive nature of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue’
‘The message women get about the fire service starts at a very young age: three four, five. There’s been a lot of research about stereotypes of images.’
Mr Morgan said there was no research showing women had refused to join the fire service because of fireman Sam.
But Mr Britzman said: ‘It’s a sad fact that 95 per cent of our workforce are men, whereas half our population are women. The reason more women don’t want to be firefighters is because of images like Fireman Sam. There’s a lot of scientific research that shows these images start very young.’
Mr Morgan said: ‘You should fire yourself.’
and the fire chief shot back: ‘If I haven’t recruited more female firefighters in a few years time, maybe I will fire myself.
‘In Lincolnshire we’ve got roughly 10 per cent, double the national average, we want to get that much closer to reflect the population.
In Lincolnshire if we cannot recruit more female firefighters our fire engines are not properly staffed, we will see people die.
Because there aren’t enough men applying in these villages. It gives us the biggest recruitment pool possible.’
Yesterday’ announcement by LRFS led to fire chiefs being labelled ‘snowflakes’ and accusations of ‘political correctness gone too far’ as people slam the ‘absurdity’ of the move.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service axed Fireman Sam over concerns he may discourage women or ethnic minorities from joining the force (pictured, a firefighter dressed as Fireman Sam alongside Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service’s other mascots Freddy and Filbert, which are blue and red fire extinguishers)
Fireman Sam was created in the 1980s by two London firefighters and now includes disabled and ethnic minority characters, and has had female firefighter Penny Morris in its ranks for many years now (pictured with Sam in a BBC promo image)
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service has previously used Fireman Sam in its promotional material, such as this Facebook post
Employees were notified in an email which said that Sam, who has been on British televisions for 30 years, ‘does not reflect the inclusive nature of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue’.
It added: ‘Please can you ensure when you are designing posters that Fireman Sam is not used and more inclusive images are utilised. This includes no longer using the Fireman Sam costumes on stations.’
Fireman Sam was created in the 1980s by two London firefighters and now includes disabled and ethnic minority characters, and has had female firefighter Penny Morris in its ranks for many years now.
But it has faced sexism claims in recent years, with Ann Millington, the Chief Executive of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service, last year calling for the character to be re-named ‘Firefighter Sam’.
A similar campaign was also launched in 2017 and backed by London mayor Sadiq Khan – with Alex Johnson, deputy chief of South Yorkshire Fire, also saying show is not a true reflection of what the job is actually like.
Freddy and Filbert, who are said to be male, and Penelope, who is female, will be used in future promotional material – despite their having appeared alongside Fireman Sam at promotional events for the service in the past (pictured in a Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Facebook post)
The move has faced a fierce backlash, with many commenting about the news on social media (above and below)
Now, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service has become the first service to ban the character, and will now use their alternative mascots created around 20 years ago.
Freddy and Filbert, who are said to be male, and Penelope, who is female, will be used in future promotional material – despite their having appeared alongside Fireman Sam at promotional events for the service in the past.
Lincolnshire’s chief fire officer Les Britzman told The Lincolnite newspaper: ‘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.’
The move was backed by Richard Wright, Fire Brigades Union secretary for Lincolnshire. He told The Sun: ‘We are firefighters, not firemen.’
But the move has faced a fierce backlash, with many commenting about the news on social media.
Writing on Twitter, one resident said: ‘Just found out that our local firecrew are dropping Fireman Sam as a mascot because they’re concerned about gender stereotypes. God forbid we should encourage our young men to join the fire service.’
While Paul Sweeney, writing on Facebook, said: ‘So they drop a character depicting the role of a firefighter and people think it’s not inclusive enough for the firefighting field? Jesus Christ, people need to seriously get a grip.’
The Claymation version of Fireman Sam for the BBC ended in 2006, but it was revived in 2008 featuring diverse characters including Penny Morris, a female firefighter (pictured, in a new animated series)
And Mircea Fulga wrote: ‘It is not just about the absurdity of the new politically correct fanatics and their demands. It also is about the cowardice of those who accept their demands.’
The Claymation version of Fireman Sam for the BBC ended in 2006, but it was revived in 2008 featuring diverse characters including Penny Morris, a female firefighter.
Some picked up on this, with Julie Berriman saying: ‘Oh dear poor old Fireman Sam. What about Ellie and Penny Morris. Female fire fighters.’
And Sarai Meles said: ‘Wasn’t there a female firefighter in the TV show too? Perhaps they could add her to their posters rather than removing him.
‘Now, instead of encouraging boys and girls to become fire-people, they’re encouraging them to – um – become fire extinguishers with faces?’
Others also criticised the other Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service mascots, with Chrissy Yates saying: ‘Can someone tell me how Freddy & Filbert are “more inclusive” & “reflect the work of the fire service?”‘
While another said: ‘So Fireman Sam isn’t inclusive, but two out of date male fire extinguishers is ok.’
Also earlier this year, the writer who created Fireman Sam waded into the show’s sexism row and hit back at critics who said the programme puts women off joining the service.
David Jones, who is himself a former firefighter, said that the animation is meant to educate its young audience on fire safety and was not designed as a recruitment drive.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2, he said: ‘It is for children, it wasn’t meant to be advertised as a recruiting post.
‘It is supposed to teach kids some small safety items. Someone doesn’t join the fire service when they watch Fireman Sam.
‘They wouldn’t be the right people for the job if that was their mentality.’
A fierce debate began after the Welsh firefighter, from Pontypandy, Alex Johnson, deputy chief of South Yorkshire Fire said the show ‘doesn’t help to break down stereotypes.’
But Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan added fuel to the fire and wrote: ‘If women are being “put off” joining the fire service because Fireman Sam – A CARTOON CHARACTER – supposedly “perpetuates male stereotypes” then can I politely suggest these women probably don’t have what it takes to fight fires.’