The unit allows firefighters to hone their skills at tackling house fires, with three scenarios available – a gas stove fire, a couch fire and a TV fire.

Fortuna deputy group officer and Huntly firefighter Jason Scott said the unit allowed members to see what was happening inside a house fire.

“This is the first time we’ve seen this prop in the Fortuna group,” he said.

The station will host the unit for another two weeks, allowing all brigades in the Fortuna Fire Brigades Group to train with it.

Mr Scott said eight Huntly members who attended a training session on Sunday morning had varying levels of experience with the CFA.

“Today we’ve got people who have in excess of 40 years and then we’ve got people with one year of experience,” he said.

Huntly captain Tony Jackson said the brigade held regular training sessions at the station, but it wasn’t the same as being able to fight the real thing.

“This training is really valuable because it actually has some fire so it puts a bit of urgency in your operation,” he said.

Crews training with the unit followed standard operating procedures to first size-up the fire and then followed through with the RECEO principles of rescue, exposures, containment, extinguishment and overhaul.

Mr Jackson said the one-off training session, coupled with their regular training schedule, ensured the brigade maintained the skills necessary to respond to the varying types of jobs required.

“At Huntly Fire Brigade we have a huge amount of bush around our area so we are really on the urban interface,” he said.

“We respond to predominantly fire, but we have a lot of motor vehicle accidents also, both with heavy vehicles and cars because we’re on a major highway.”

Mr Jackson said in the past five or six years, call outs had been steadily increasing for the brigade as the population grew.

“We’re continually looking for new members,” he said.

“Anyone who is interested is welcome to call down to the Huntly station – we train on Sundays from 9.30am.”