Urbandale's First Citizen Fire Academy Is a Hit

Nine people suited up and completed Urbandale's first Citizens Fire Academy Thursday night.

On the last night of class, the students, including Mayor Bob Andeweg, City Councilman Tom Gayman, and got a chance to put out some fires.

"I think most people had a lot of fun doing it," said Fire Chief Jerry Holt.

The citizens academy is an opportunity to not only learn about fire prevention and safety, it's also an inside look at what it's like to be a firefighter or medic.

The fire academy met for eight weeks, once a week for four hours. Even with all that time, there still was interesting stuff it didn't cover. Assistant Chief Jon Rech said the fire department is adding an extra, optional, class to include a tour of the Westcom emergency dispatch center.

"They were kind of our guinea pigs," he said, noting that they'll probably improve and revise the academy program based on this class's experience.

One thing that was a hit: rappelling off the three-story fire training center at

On Thursday night, the class suited up in fire gear and took turns putting out fires.

Check out the photos of their experiences accompanying this article.

"It's a real eye-opener. I've got a huge amount of respect for what they do," said Tom Gayman.