A set of newly released firefighting cartoon blind boxes. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

At the site of the 20th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, a crowd of young people gathered in front of a fire-themed exhibition booth, eager to get their hand on a set of newly released firefighting cartoon blind boxes.

Prior to the opening of the cartoon festival, the debut of firefighting cartoon blind boxes had already made waves on local social media, even briefly trending on local hot searches.

The blind box figurine set consists of seven cartoon characters. Apart from the hidden water drop-shaped character Fangfang, the prototypes of the other six cartoon characters are all based on firefighters from Hangzhou.

For instance, characters like Shouwang, Ping'an, and Anxin correspond to real firefighters, water rescuers and emergency rescuers, respectively, while characters like Xiaohang and Chengyi represent communication support firefighters and fire inspection officers within the firefighting team.

Notably, the character of Huyue embodies a Holmes-like figure within the firefighting team. The design prototype of Huyue was inspired by Sun Zhuo'er, a female firefighter from the Hangzhou firefighting brigade.

"A fondness for firefighting cartoon characters has turned into a genuine concern for safety," said a spokesperson from the Hangzhou firefighting brigade's publicity department.

The festival is particularly popular among young adults, who are also a key target audience for firefighting awareness campaigns. Therefore, promoting fire security in a manner that resonates with young people is essential to any fire awareness campaign, the spokesperson said.

Huyue is inspired by Sun Zhuo'er, a female firefighter from the Hangzhou firefighting brigade. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]