Murrey Loflin, West Virginia University Fire Service Extension director, said the new mobile training unit offers firefighters invaluable experience.

"The opportunities it affords such as forcible entry, ventilation, seach and rescue, is endless," he said.

Firefighters all over West Virginia will use it to practice for the real thing.

"I think it will be good for new recruits to fire departments and volunteers throughout the state to keep them trained and better prepared for fires," said Neil Murphy, firefighter first class with the Morgantown Police Department.

The unit is state-of-the-art. An operator controls just about everything, including the intensity of the fire. That's something they couldn't control if they were training in an abandoned building.

"Safety is hard to control in that scenario, where this has all the safety features built in," Loflin said.

The first starts in one of the ovens and spreads up the wall and across the ceiling. Firefighters have to extinguish it the proper way.

"You have to put the fire out correctly or they don't go out," Loflin said. "You could be there a long time."

The unit will be brought to Fayette County next weekend for those firefighters to practice on. Other counties also will be using it throughout the year.