sixth-grader karin honda. >> translator: i want to be the fastest to put out the fire. >> reporter: karin'sather is a volunteer at the local brigade. he set up the youth group after growing concern over lack of new members in his organization and the advancing age of current members. >> translator: we hardly have any young members. in particular, ones in their 20s. so we need young people to join us. if i can get my daughter to join, we'll have at least one member. >> reporter: karin at first had no interest in fighting fires. >> translator: it looked really hard. so i didn't want to join. >> reporter: the firefighters club held its inaugural ceremony in august of this year, and then its activities got under way. volunteers from the brigade trained karin and her fellow youth members. throughout her training karin gradually realized the importance of her role as a leader. >> since i'm the leader i have a lot of things to do such as making sure that everyone coordinates with each other. having fun is fine, but i want everyone to work hard when it's time to work hard. >> reporter: on this day