Members of the Scarborough Fire Department got some real-life training Saturday morning, putting out a series of fires at a 3 Ward St. home.

The doomed building was donated to the fire department by KDA Development, a Scarborough-based private contracting firm, for the training exercise. Deputy Chief Wes Merritt said the fire department receives about two buildings each year to burn and extinguish for real

“Otherwise, the only training new people get is outdoor fires,” said Merritt. He said the fire department benefits from the real-life training, and the contractor benefits from the partial destruction of unwanted buildings, with fewer pieces to haul away.

The building was stuffed with bales of hay and wooden pallets for the controlled burns. After lighting, the fire department waited for the blaze to enlarge before rushing in with water hoses. The department repeated the exercise a few times. They ended before the house was burned enough to collapse.

FireTraining1: A firefighter watches smoke pour from a doomed house on Ward Street during a training exercise. The building was donated by a private contractor with other plans for the land and was burned repeatedly.FireTraining2: A firefighter sticks his head out of a broken window during a training fire on Saturday.FireTraining3: Firefighters spray through the open window of a doomed house on Ward Street during a training exercise. The building was donated by a private contractor with other plans for the land and was burned repeatedly.FireTraining4: A weary firefighter wipes his eyes shortly after leaving a smoke-filled house on Ward Street in Scarborough during training exercises. In his right hand is the hood worn with his gas-mask.