Firefighters from departments all across Lincoln County came together on Thursday, April 16 for free training on how to properly fight car fires.

Instead of lighting a real car on fire, the training provided by the Maine Fire Service Institute involved using a steel prop car and a tray of propane fuel to simulate a real fire. The prop car can be used over and over again to train people from all over Maine, which not only is less wasteful, but is also much more environmentally friendly.

“When you light a real car on fire, you have oil leaking and gas tanks and airbags, which can explode,” Deputy Director of the Maine Fire Service Institute Jim Graves said. “Propane is almost 100 percent clean burning while creating a fire that's as realistic as it can get.”

Along with the hands-on training, fire departments also have supplemental training in a classroom where they go over how to approach a car fire, including accounting for terrain and wind conditions, dealing with oil leaks and explosions from tires or bumpers.

“There are 12 basic skills firefighters go through,” Boothbay Fire Captain and Pro Board Certified Fire Instructor John Long said. “They include nozzles, search and rescue, ladders and more. It's a six- to seven-month training. They learn about approach, teamwork and how to be a backup team.”

The prop car, which weighs 3,500 pounds, was acquired by the Maine Fire Service Institute through a grant from the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Firefighters Grant Program, with help from multiple fire departments over Maine including Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Westbrook, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Gorham and Falmouth.

“We encourage departments to get together and train, and this is ideal,” Graves said. “This is a huge group and there are firefighters from almost every town in Lincoln County here.”

This is the third year of use for the car. Last year it traveled all over Maine for training, from Lovell on the New Hampshire border to way up north in Caribou. Thursday was the first time it has been fired up this year, as it can't be used in the winter months.

For the training, the firefighters worked in teams and, with an instructor guiding them, approached the blazing prop car and put out the fire. They were then told how to circle the car, safely open doors and the hood, all while maintaining control over the fire hose and making sure that no part of the car was still on fire.