They’re still a little too young to be driving the big engines and ladder trucks, but Hinesville Fire Chief Robert Kitchings was just as excited about his newest class of recruits.

The fire department graduated its first junior fire marshal program last Friday at the HFD, and the new fire marshals learned a number of fire safety and emergency aspects, including CPR.

“They are the newest group of CPR-certified people in the city of Hinesville,” Chief Kitchings said.

The junior fire marshals ranged in age from 8-12 and they learned basic fire safety in the home, how to come up with an escape plan and how to use fire extinguishers, among other topics.

“I am so proud of what they have done,” the chief said.

Putting a junior fire marshal program in place was one of the chief ’s goals when he took command of the Hinesville Fire Department.

“We’ve always had an excellent public safety information program,” he said. “One of our dreams was to have a junior fire fighter program. As reactive as everything is in public safety, it was so much more important for us to be proactive and to get the information out to our children. If they learn it now, it will be with them forever. With this junior fire marshal program, we mean to build a safer world, one kid at a time.”

The junior fire marshals also got in some math, science and reading, as the department partnered with the Liberty County unit of the Boys and Girls Club. Chief Kitchings is looking ahead to the next class to come in.

“I’m really excited,” he said.