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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Monday marked a special training day for a group of Colorado Springs firefighters.

Station 1 firefighters met with students at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) to learn about different types of visual impairments.

"[It's] so that they know how they can assist a visually impaired or blind person in a situation like a fire," Chandler Williams, a 15-year-old CSDB student, said.

During the training, firefighters wore blindfolds and goggles to simulate different kinds of blindness. Then, students guided them through hallways, up and down stairs and through doorways to teach the emergency responders how to properly guide a visually impaired person during an emergency.

"From darkness to total blindness, even tunnel-like vision," Lt. David Broch with the Colorado Springs Fire Department said, "we took turns wearing different goggles. Then they let us use canes, but it wasn't easy."

Williams said the training also taught firefighters the best way to approach the visually impaired.

"You don't want to just come up and grab someone," she said. "They simply need to ask for permission so we know who they are and where we are going."

Of the many things learned, Broch said understanding how to approach a blind person was one of the most important lessons.

"We never knew anything like this before," he said. "It's definitely helpful."

Williams said the training was helpful not only for the firefighters, but for the students as well.

"It was good for us to be able to advocate and teach the community about blindness," she said. "It was good for them, too. They learned a lot."

Monday's training was a part of White Cane Day, which is usually celebrated on Oct. 15 every year to raise awareness about the visually impaired.