CHILDMINDERS negotiated a smoke-filled room and learned how to carry out risk assessments during a fire safety course.
The participants, all from Richmondshire, took the course at Richmond fire station to understand better how to keep the youngsters they care for safe.
They were also shown how to use a fire blanket and learned about safety in the home.
Dawn Thomas, a childminder in Richmond for 15 years, said: "We also had to find our way around a smoke filled appliance room, avoiding obstacles and trying to find the dummy bodies.
"This experience helps you appreciate how difficult it would be to find a child in a well-established fire and how important it is to carry out simple steps to improve safety in the home and carry out regular risk assessments.
"It also makes you realise what an important job firefighters do in such difficult conditions. Childminders have smoke detectors which are checked on a regular basis and carry out and practise fire drills, so we are prepared for the worst."
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