Smoke floated out of flaming rooms in the old Roseburg Auto Repair building at 1650 N.W. Mulholland Drive, just as planned.
The Roseburg Fire Department practiced live-fire burning exercises in the building from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday as a training opportunity.
“This training is to increase our efficiency of firefighting, enhance our communications and to increase teamwork capabilities,” said Roseburg Fire Chief Gregg Timm.
The department plans to burn down the entire building this morning during a final burn.
Over the past few weeks, the team built 11 temporary rooms in the building, where it has been performing search-and-rescue and firefighter-rescue training.
On Saturday, the firefighters systematically lit a room on fire, waited for the flames to roll over the ceiling and extinguished it before setting another fire.
The firefighters practiced advancing hose lines, observing building fire conditions and using thermal imaging cameras.
“It’s been a great, valuable training,” said Battalion Chief Drew Fairbairn, adding that the whole department benefitted from the experience. He played the role of a safety officer to observe the conditions, supervise the crew and make sure each fire was extinguished before moving on to the next set.