It was EPIC Firefighter Day at the Peoria Fire Department’s Central House. Peoria firefighters and managers hosted 20 EPIC participants.
EPIC stands for empowering people and inspiring capabilities. Participants in the day program have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Jen Funk is with EPIC. She says they visit different places to allow participants to see what it’s like to be an employed member of the community.
“What we want to do is show them that they can be anything. Thanks to the Peoria Fire Department we were able to bring them out so they could see what another way of life is like,” Funk said.
EPIC participants got to see some of the equipment on the fire trucks. They tried on turnout gear, sprayed water from a fire hose, navigated a search-and-rescue obstacle course and had lunch with the firefighters.