Not every graduate can say he or she got to smash car windows and put out fires as part of the class requirements.

But that’s exactly what the graduating class of the third annual Citizens Fire Academy got to do.

In a Thursday night ceremony, the DeKalb Fire Department recognized its graduating class at DeKalb Fire Department Station 1, 700 S. Pine St.

The graduating class of 18 was comprised of NIU students, working adults, teachers, Police Chief Bill Feithen and City Manager Jim Connors.

DeKalb Fire Lt. Eric Hicks explained that the training was primarily a means of showing anyone interested the kinds of day-in day-out duties firefighters must perform.

“We were not training firefighters but showing these people the services available to them as citizens,” Hicks said.

During the nine-week training course, trainees smashed car windows and broke off car doors to simulate the event when someone would need to be extracted from the car. Not only did they get to break stuff, trainees practiced extinguishing pallet fires with fire hoses. The students also spent extensive time listening to lectures and watching videos about the job of the average firefighter.

Jessica Astrug, junior English education major, said her recommendation to join the training core was through friends who were cops at University Police.

“This was a hell of a good time,” Astrug said. “I got to bash in some car windows and take a sledgehammer and destroy a car.”

Senior criminal justice major Missy Griffin said she heard about the training session through the Northern Star.

“It was fun, and I got to learn a lot of new stuff while playing with fire gear,” Griffin said. “I’ve always been interested in firefighting.”

As city manager, Connors felt his motivation to take part in the training was to see first-hand and appreciate the kind of work firefighters do.

“I’d been to the previous graduations and saw how much the graduates valued the experience,” Connors said.

DeKalb resident Gail Sitzes also graduated Thursday night.

She said her involvement with the training program stemmed from an interest in the types of tasks firefighters perform.

“I wanted to learn a lot of the technology and the things they go through,” Sitzes said. “I’ve had an interest in being an EMT since high school. It’s a real one-on-one hands-on experience.”

Kevin Howard, assistant chief operating engineer for the heating plant at NIU, said the training was a good way to see how this job compared with the firefighting training he had in the military.

“I figured it would be beneficial for the department I am working in to see I’ve received this training. It was a really good time, and I’d highly recommend it,” he said.

Visiting professor and kinesiology and physical education instructor Jennie Hartman had similar motivation. She said she had previous firefighting training in her hometown in Pennsylvania and wanted to compare the work there to the work in DeKalb.

Brian Lange, president of Local 1236, said the tragedy of Sept. 11 has shed light on the importance and heroic deeds the firefighters do almost every day.

“The tragedy has made people think of what firefighters do, and what they mean to people,” Lange said.

Assistant Fire Chief Reuben Nelson applauded the trainees’ involvement as a strong sign of Americana.

“The word that comes to mind is patriotism,” he said. “This is someone who gets involved with the community, and if you think about it, our country is a community. These students are true patriots.”