VIDEO/PHOTOS: Jefferson County Public Schools is utilizing virtual reality to train future firefighters.
The district is incorporating virtual reality into its academic programs and pathways, including in the Fire Science program at Fern Creek High School. Students use VR headsets to experience what it's like to enter a burning building.
Fern Creek firefighters provide weekly class time and training for students.
"They're able to get training done now, while they are in school, that would take them 6 months to complete after they graduated," said Nathan Mulvey, chief of the Fern Creek Fire Department. "So it's pretty exciting." Since there is also a shortage of EMTs, organizers are trying to develop an EMT program within the school's Fire Science program.