The Forsyth County Fire Department has a new group of firefighters … sort of.

On Friday, 29 rising seventh and eighth graders from across the county completed the seventh annual Junior Fire Academy, which was held June 5-9.

“The purpose of the program is to provide a one-week opportunity for these children to get an up-close and personal exposure to the fire service,” said Division Chief Jason Shivers, a spokesman for the department. “They learn what we do as an organization, experience some of it themselves, have a lot of fun and perhaps even decide if it’s a career path they want to do someday.

“It’s a program, quite frankly, that we all enjoy. The public education division and the field firefighters really enjoy taking part of it and watching these kids come out of their shell after that first day of introductions and really get on board with the program. By the end of the week, you have to run them away from here.”