‘Fire doesn’t discriminate and neither do we’ are the words embossed on the lockers of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s (WYFRS) newly customised fire engine, unveiled at the service’s headquarters in Birkenshaw yesterday (2 August).
The modified engine will be taking part in this year’s Leeds Pride Parade, Yorkshire’s largest annual celebration of LGBT+ life, which takes place on Sunday 5 August.
The idea for the pride lockers was coined by WYFRS’s recently formed ‘Inclusion Action Group’ (IAG). The group, started by several employees, was set up with the aim of improving the service’s practice and culture on all things diversity and inclusion.
Diversity Projects Officer Chris Davey said: “We are seeking to improve our relations with, and opportunities for, underrepresented groups within our own staff and in the communities we serve.
“Among operational firefighters LGBT+ communities are significantly underrepresented. We have modified one of our fire engines in order to express a commitment to changing this representation, to promote the message of inclusion and that we as a service do not discriminate.”

Man in Critical Condition After Vauxhall Assault
Leeds Station Gateway Set to Begin Opening in October
Two Arrested After Reported Firearms Incident in Leeds
Six Greater Manchester Police Officers Dismissed Over Racial Discrimination Case
Historic Chiswick Riverside House to Receive New Blue Plaque
Bradford Drug Dealer Jailed Over ‘Jake Line’ County Lines Operation
Taxi Driver Jailed After Falling Asleep at Wheel and Causing Fatal A23 Collision
Drugs Seized and Wanted Woman Arrested During Milton Keynes Police Patrol
Boy, 15, Charged with Murder After Fatal Wembley Stabbing
Three Bradford Shops Closed Over Illegal Goods and Anti-Social Behaviour
Man Jailed After Deliberately Driving Car at People Outside Bradford Casino
Legal Show
Bhangra Nights
Alim OnAir
The Golden Era