MORGANTOWN -- It's hard to train for emergency situations, but mine rescue teams now have a more realistic way of learning, thanks to a new simulation mine in Monongalia County.

Miners led tours of the new, multi-million dollar facility on Friday. It is designed to be flexible, for training rescue teams in a variety of situations. There's even a controlled conveyor-belt burn, one of the most difficult challenges a mine rescue team might face.

"A lot of it's smoke," says Captain Kelvin Jolly with the McElroy Mine Rescue Team of Moundsville, W.Va. "Learning how to handle smoke, how to travel in smoke, it's very difficult. It's difficult when you can't see ahead of you and this helps a lot, gets everybody working as a team."

The West Virginia University Mining Extension Office built the simulator, but university, government, and mining officials helped dedicate it at Friday's ceremony. Mine rescue training usually happens in open fields, with mine shaft areas roped off on the ground, and exercises like an actual fire can prepare rescue teams for the most difficult conditions.

"We're trying to make it as realistic as possible for the real situations that they would encounter so that they have confidence in the ability that they've seen this before and know how to handle it," says Jim Dean, the director of WVU's Mining Extension Service.

The simulator is open to any mine rescue team for training. WVU Mining and Engineering students might also use it for their studies.