They aren't riding in a typical clown car, and they aren't your typical clowns.
Hundreds of firefighters across North Texas and around the country swap their turnout gear for clown costumes to teach fire safety to elementary-age kids during National Fire Prevention Month every October.
They are in full clown makeup, some wearing wigs and others with gigantic shoes. Everyone has a bright red nose.
But with the "creepy clown" hoax craze sweeping the country recently, it becomes a little challenging.
"Kids love clowns, it's just bad timing for us," said "Hoser," a firefighter for 30 years and a clown for 23. Hoser heads the McTown Klownz group of six firefighters in McKinney.
He calls it "edu-tainment," combining education with entertainment to teach kids real-life lessons.
The McTown Klownz were at McNeil Elementary School on Tuesday, putting on a safety show for second graders. The firefighters transform into clowns right at the school, so there's no mistaking them walking around town.
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Chris Jefferson, a Plano firefighter and "Snozzle" the clown, is president of Texas LAFS – Life and Fire Safety – which is basically a clown college for firefighters. They meet at a conference each year for training.
Jefferson said they work with local hospitals to find out what activity is sending kids to the emergency rooms the most – then focus their lessons to teach them how to avoid that.
And Jefferson, like many others, doesn't find the creepy clown hoaxes a laughing matter.
Instead of calling them clowns, he calls them "scary characters."
"Any true clown wants to make someone happy and bring joy into their life," Jefferson said. "Putting on a rubber mask doesn't make you a clown, just like putting on a lab coat doesn't make you a doctor."
Jefferson said their programs will continue as scheduled for the rest of the month. The 7-clown unit of Plano firefighters is set to go to 36 schools this season.
