After it was reported that fire vehicles were painted in rainbow colors at a cost of nearly £17,000, fire departments were advised to “fight fires not cultural conflicts.”
Since 2017, several fire and rescue service chiefs in England have given their approval to the vibrant paint jobs as part of recruiting efforts.
Since the late 1970s, the rainbow flag has been used as a symbol of LGBT pride.
Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service spent the most on fire trucks with rainbow paint, paying £4,320.
‘Fight fires not culture wars’: Fire brigades have spent over £17,000 painting fire engines in a rainbow colours
The colourful paint jobs were approved by several fire and rescue service chiefs across England since 2017 in inclusivity and recruitment drives
This expensive paint job came from the service’s annual budget which was £23.2million in 2020/21.
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue spent around a thousand pounds less, paying £3,390 in the last few years.
The service has an annual budget of around £61million in 2022/23, rising from £58.5m in 2021/22.
Spending on rainbow-themed designs on fire engines was £2,284 at Suffolk Fire and Rescue, according to a Freedom of Information request by the Sun.
Suffolk fire brigade’s annual budget for 2019/20 was around £21.5million.
Across the country, around £35,000 more has been spent on rainbow items including flags.
Tom Ryan, from the thinktank the TaxPayers’ Alliance said that fire chiefs need to recognise that ‘expensive rainbow wrappings’ do not help deliver ‘heroic life-saving’ fire fighting services we all need to save us in crisis. Pictured: A firefighter inspects a building as firefighters tackle a blaze which broke out near Southwark Bridge and London Bridge Station earlier this month
Tom Ryan (pictured), from the TaxPayers’ Alliance slammed the spending saying that taxpayers ‘are being ripped off in the rush to be right on’
Tom Ryan, from thinktank the TaxPayers’ Alliance slammed the spending saying that taxpayers ‘are being ripped off in the rush to be right on’.
He said that fire chiefs need to recognise that ‘expensive rainbow wrappings’ do not help deliver ‘heroic life-saving’ fire fighting services we all need to save us in crisis.
Fire services should ‘fight fires not culture wars,’ he said.
Oxfordshire County Council told the Sun that its rainbow paintjob used on one of their older fire engines contributed to its ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ goals.
Rainbow colours were chosen by Dorset & Wiltshire to ‘promote inclusivity’ and that the rainbow designs were ‘beyond its operational’.
Dorset & Wilts said its decoration was ‘beyond its operational’ and rainbow colours were chosen ‘to promote inclusivity’.
The colourful designs were a ‘relatively cheap way to advertise’ according to Suffolk Fire and Rescue.