What do and are explorers ?

I know that explorers are like youth members of a fire department, but I never really knew what they do? I am 16 , in California, and just wondering what exactly explorers do, because my city's fire department has an explorer program, and it seems pretty interesting?
also, I hear different things like Jr,Firefighters. What are junior firefighters? are they different from explorers?
any info on explorers and junior firefighters would be great. Thanks everyone

Try a search. There's several threads on here already with that...

Many fire departments have some sort of junior firefighter program and they go by different names. However, a true Explorer program is attached to a fire department but is actually an official program of the Boy Scouts of America. The fire department runs the Explorer post but the post must adhere to certain rules, regulations, and membership requirements as outlined by the BSA.

There are also Explorer posts in other fields besides firefighting. Some law enforcement agencies, among others, also host Explorer posts. Check out the link for more info...

http://www.learningforlife.org/exploring/index.html

As far as what Explorers do, some of that is up to the host department and how active or involved their Explorer post is. BSA's regulations do provide some specific guidelines regarding certain hazardous activities (I think Explorers are generally prohibited from live burn training, using power tools, working at heights, etc. Someone correct me if I'm off the mark here). But otherwise, they participate in much of the training that the fire department does and are allowed to perform some support functions on the fireground.