Staff photo / Bob Coupland Brookfield firefighter Tom Young, right, assists Jonah Campana, 10, a fifth grader in Brookfield, with trying on a firefighter mask over the weekend at the first Brookfield Junior Firefighter Academy for third to fifth graders from Brookfield and Hartford. Children learned about firefighting through hands-on activities such as obstacle courses, simulated fires and safety training.

BROOKFIELD — Children from Brookfield and Hartford spent the weekend learning how to be a firefighter as part of the first-ever Junior Fire Academy.

The two-day event for 20 children in grades third to fifth took place at the fire department, where children learned about CPR, first aid and home fire safety, took part in an obstacle course and rode in a fire truck.

They also were introduced to fire equipment and gear, had the opportunity to try on uniforms and masks, and also watch an auto extrication. Brookfield fire Chief David Masirovits said the idea for the junior fire academy came from firefighter Derek Hollander and he hopes to make it an annual event.

“The program is multi-faceted and the children will learn fire safety. We hope that with this age group, they are at the point in life where they are starting to look at what they may want to do when they grow up. We hope that down the road they may consider public service either as police officers, firefighters or EMTs. Being part of this may entice them to look into this further,” Masirovits said.

He said the fire safety lessons the children learn will be lifelong lessons they will remember to share with their families. Masirovits said children will recognize unsafe conditions and alert their parents and other adults

He said while fire prevention programs are taught in the schools, the junior fire academy was more extensive and in depth.

“This is more hands-on in showing them the fire messages. It is easy to sit in a class and talk about a fire, but when you see and experience it simulated, it is a lot different.” Masirovits said.

He said he wanted the program to have hands-on activities such as using fire hoses and fire extinguishers on simulated fires, as well as walking through a burn container.

Masirovits said for the finale on Sunday, children wore fire gear fit to them and they took part in a training obstacle course using all that they learned.

“It may be very overwhelming for a young kid in a stressful environment to hear the noise of us coming. We want them to know it is safe for them to run to us and not hide from us. They get to see and try on our gear and see that it is a person underneath it,” firefighter Tom Young said.

He said it is important to reach out to the children, noting that when he was in school in Champion, the fire department came to the school and that is what got him interested in being a firefighter.

“To reach out to children at this age is very important. They may want to do this when they become older. They are the future for the safety of our community,” Young said.

Masirovits said it is becoming more difficult to get new firefighters and that trend likely will continue in the future.

Ben Marshall, 10, a fifth grader from Brookfield, said he wanted to see what firefighting was all about.

“I thought being here would be fun,” he said.

Marshall had the chance to put out a small pretend fire on a stove in a fire safety trailer.

Jonah Campana, 10, also a fifth grader from Brookfield, said during a tour of the fire station that he was surprised how big it is.

Campana tried on firefighting gear and learned that firefighters have 90 seconds to put on the gear to get to a fire.

“It was hard to get ready that quick,” he said.