A house on Union Rd. in Paso Robles was set on fire on purpose on Thursday, Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services said.
The empty building, set to be demolished anyway, was ignited to give firefighters a real-life house fire training opportunity.
It marked the culmination of five weeks of intense training in house fire academy, the fire department said. The training allowed firefighters to get realistic experience in a controlled environment.
"It's super unique to have an actual building that's gonna get torn down, because they get as close to real conditions as they're going to get," Brian Lewis, Battalion Chief for the department, told KSBY. "The building itself is just like a real building, so they get to see what the conditions are going to be like. They get to experience it and they get to put it out."
Two new firefighter recruits were among the firefighters involved in the training.
