ROCKPORT — The little house on West Street (Route 90) in Rockport that was donated to the fire department survived seven live fire training rotations Sunday morning before the structure became too unstable for Rockport firefighters to go in for an eighth “save.” The final day of live training began at 7 a.m. April 13 and finished about four hours later, according to Fire Chief Jason Peasley.

"It's not a cost savings for use a donated house, but it's the most realistic way to experience the heat, smoke and lack of visibility," said Peasley. "Unlike going to the training building in Bangor, which is all cement and rooms of hay and pallets are lit on fire that you then extinguish, a donated structure allows realistic training to learn and hone skills."

He said a donated structure calls for everyone to be aware of a variety of issues that can develop during multiple fires and water applications, to avoid collapse and other things that can go awry, and quickly. They also need to make sure they don't let the training fire burn too long, which can cut into the number of fires they can light and put out. But that’s also the benefit of a donated structure — it provides real-life training, especially when it comes to safety.

The residence, located south of the Meadow Street intersection near Applewood Road, was used on two other occasions for training before Sunday's final series.

One training session was held earlier this month, when Rockport firefighters practiced ventilation and search-and-rescue skills, and the second was when nine firefighters from five local towns, who are working toward Firefighter I and II certification, used it for a day of training.

"We would have invited other towns to train on the building with us today, but the hydrant was across the street and we couldn't use it and shut down Route 90. So Lincolnville Deputy Fire Chief Mike Eugley brought a tanker from his department, which saved us from shuttling a lot of water today," said Peasley. "It was a very small structure and right on a major road, so too many people there would have created traffic issues too."

Peasley said there were 27 Rockport firefighters on scene, including Eugley. Rockport's department has a roster of 31, so only five members didn't make it to the live fire training this morning, he said.

Peasley is the former Lincolnville fire chief and the tradition in Lincolnville is for all the firefighters at the last day of live fire training to pose in front of the building when it finally burns to the ground.

This morning's photo opportunity occurred at the same time a couple with New York license plates drove by the blazing building, and what they saw was 27 smiling firefighters, posing for the camera, with flames licking high in the air behind them.

"The guy slammed on the brakes in front of the house and the woman in the passenger seat had her hand over her mouth, and then she said, 'What are you doing?,'" said Peasley. "It was a shock, for sure, and they were relieved to learn why."

After clearing the scene, Peasley said the firefighters spent about an hour and a half back at the station.

"We had to clean the equipment, get the air packs back in service and share a big 6-foot submarine sandwich," said Peasley. "Gotta keep everyone happy and fed!"

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.