HOPKINS CO., KY (WFIE) -
The Madisonville Fire Department is teaching kids in Hopkins County what being a firefighter is all about.
It's part of their Kid's Firefighter Challenge to promote healthy activity while also teaching them about fire safety.
Whether it was navigating their way through the inflatable maze, or rescuing a child size dummy, kids learned what a day in the life of a firefighter was all about.
"It was really hard. I jumped through pretty much everything, but it was really fun," said Alexa Chandler.
The course is designed to take about a minute to finish, but kids say there were some challenging parts.
Hayden Carter said it was, "putting the fire out."
Chandler said, "the dummy's a lot heavier than you think."
"Probably get stuck a lot, might fall," said Davis Miller.
"I did it in a fast time, really," Chandler said.
This is the first year for the challenge and Kevin Cotton with the Madisonville Fire Department says educating our youth on fire safety is crucial.
"They don't have the opportunity to see exactly what we're doing and how we're doing it so it gives them that opportunity to jump on board, see, and be a part of what we're doing," Cotton said.
Cotton says along with fire safety tips, one of the main goals of this program is promoting healthy lifestyles.
"Kentucky is in the top three of child obesity in the nation so we wanted to try to find a way to kind of battle that and bring some awareness to it," Cotton said.
Davis Miller sped through the course and says he has a new appreciation for what actual firefighters do on a given day.
"It really amazes me because with all that gear they're able to keep that up, and going through the fire I'm surprised they don't get burned a little bit," Miller said.
"This course is somewhat similar to what we do for our physical agility test for our new recruits so it does give them kind of an idea of what to expect," Cotton said.
Cotton says they hope to expand to the middle and high school levels soon.
This program is also offered at the city's Friday Night Live Downtown Concert Series throughout the summer.
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The course is designed to take about a minute to finish, but kids say there were some challenging parts.
