Members of the Altona/Rhineland Fire Department had the chance to sharpen their fire fighting skills on the weekend.
    
The department held a live burn exercise using on an old house located south of Altona.

While fire fighters regularly do small-scale live training, Saturday's controlled burn provided a larger element of danger and offered crews a better sense of what to expect in an actual house fire.

"The idea was to give some of our new crew members some experience on interior fire fighting," said acting fire chief, Barry Freisen. "It's incredibly valuable for our guys. We don't often get a chance to practice and train on actual structures very often, so it's a great opportunity especially for some of the new guys. There were probably four people on our crew that hadn't been to a fire with us yet, so this will take them a long way."

During the live burn, fire fighters practiced their search and rescue routine, knock down exercises and overhaul which involves opening up walls to expose any hidden fires.

In addition to the live burn exercise, the department has its own training facility where members train twice a month.

According to Friesen, the department has 26 volunteer members and is looking to add a few more to its ranks. He says anyone interested in pursuing a career in emergency services or volunteer firefighting, can call the fire hall at 324-8500.