Local fire crews train on planned structure fire - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

Eau Claire (WQOW) - Crews got the chance to practice their firefighting skills today in Chippewa County.

Chippewa Fire District crews lit a house and a pair of garages on fire. The training brings together volunteers and full time workers to practice fighting fully engulfed buildings. State law requires these kinds of exercises, but don't happen more than once or twice in a given year.

"Being a volunteer, like myself, we don't a lot of times get to work with a lot of guys on a regular basis like a full time department would. So this gives us a lot of opportunity to get out there and get into a structure fire environment. And learn to correlate with other team members that you don't always get to work with on a regular basis," said Chippewa Fire District's Travis Witt.

The training also marked the last time Fire Chief Kent Hulett would put on his gear. He has been fighting fires for over forty years.