A house was burnt to the ground in Mosgiel yesterday to give firefighters some on the job training.
Senior Station Officer Pete Douglas, of Dunedin, said the house in Wingatui Rd was set alight ''room by room'' to train 20 firefighters. For some, it was their first time ''in a decent involved fire''.
Others were ''refreshing and upskilling to know how to a handle a situation, should it turn a bit nasty from a basic fire to a well-involved fire''.
A trainer set a corner of a room on fire with the firefighters inside. The firefighters watched the blaze develop, then fought it, before retreating to the hallway to allow the fire to redevelop.
The fire then ''rolled over the ceiling area'' to burn in the hallway.
''From there, they use their firefighting techniques to control it, push it back and extinguish the fire in the room.''
After every room was set on fire and the exercise completed, the house was burnt to the ground.
