Firefighters train at Southbourne derelict building

The exercise took place at a derelict building, which will be demolished within the next few weeks.

Crews were given the chance to extinguish actual fires, navigate their way through smoke-filled rooms, rescue 'casualties', and investigate the causes of fires—all within a secure and supervised setting.

DWFRS Training Centre Manager Dan Joslin said: "We are so grateful to have the opportunity to use this building for training.

"This is the most realistic training environment that our crews can be in.

"The layout of the building is completely new to them. When we get firefighters in, they get taught the procedures and the techniques to search a building like this safely for themselves, but also to locate people and hopefully bring them out alive."

The building is being used for training from Monday, May 13, to Friday, May 17.

It will be the location of various exercises with a 'spectrum' of training firefighters.

On May 15, a small operational team arrived at the property to complete training on the use of breathing apparatus.

The building was filled with 'artificial smoke', and the crew had the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned at a facility in West Moors.

Depending on the situation, the crews' breathing apparatus lasts for around 38 minutes before firefighters must be switched out.

Dan said: "In the evenings, we have been starting small fires and sending crews out like they're in a real-life incident.

"We then bring in our fire investigation team so they can practice trying to work out what happened.

"We can rig up cameras and watch it back with them to see how close their investigations were.

"That kind of training is second to none."

The property used for the training belongs to Juno Developments, which plans to demolish the building.

Its director, James Dean, said: "We are delighted to have given the fire services an opportunity to carry out their training on our latest development site before demolition."