VIDEO: A house in St. Charles that burned to the ground Monday night was a part of a training exercise by the St. Charles Fire Department.
The training happened at a vacant house on County Road 119 near Highway 14.
With permission from the property owners, firefighters put straw, pallets and wood in a back room of the house, said St. Charles Fire Chief Mike Schultz. Two instructors then started the fire and guided four firefighters inside the house to let them assess the blaze.
It got so hot, one firefighter's helmet melted, so they decided to pull back and put water over the flames, Chief Schultz said
Crews then started a second blaze in a front room of the vacant house, guided four more firefighter inside, and had them alternate between knocking the flames back and watching the fire grow. When it got too hot, they got out.