'You've Got to Practice Like This is Real Life' [VIDEO]

It was just a coincidence that the same day several volunteers were scheduled to train, navigating through difficult pathways at the Morris County Public Safety Academy, in Morris Township, the firefighters were faced with having to do so in real life during a But as many firefighters can attest, a fire can strike at any moment.

Six Butler firefighters attended a Friday night training session using the Academy's Mask Confidence course while Tri-Boro Patch was invited to watch. In the course, firefighters are asked to wear all of their gear, including an air tank and mask, and must crawl through an obstacle course navigating only by the touch of a hose they follow, as they are blinded by hoods.

The course includes floors that collapse, narrow tunnels, thin beams and unstable surfaces. Firefighters must decide how to fit through the obstacles, whether it means taking off air tanks and pushing them above their heads, pushing objects out of their way or breaking whatever material is stopping them from getting through.

"You've got to practice like this is real life," Dennis Lonagan, former Butler fire chief, current Pequannock Township fire marshal and full-time fire instructor at the academy, told the firefighters before they entered the course.

I watched as the firefighters navigated the course, some pushing through the entire thing in just over 10 minutes, others having to stop the exercise midway to catch a breath of air.

Lonagan said training exercises like this are difficult for even the veteran firefighters who have been with the department for years. But, as Lonagan reminded the firefighters, referencing how several were faced with collapsing floors in the real fire earlier that day, knowing how to deal with these situations could save their lives.

"You gotta save your life, that's what this is all about. That's what this course was about," he said.

The academy was renovated this year, Lonagan said, to include state-of-the-art technology in the burn building. With the flick of a switch on a remote control, he can light up a 500-degree fire with red flames rolling overhead on the ceiling. Another flick of the switch and the room fills with a gust of smoke that stings the throat—although none of the smoke is harmful because in the simulator, they only burn vegetable oil.

Lonagan also taught the firefighters a lesson of a more personal nature. Facial hair, at least on your chin, is not allowed when you are a firefighter.

Lonagan said the hair can create a separation between the firefighter's face and mask, allowing dangerous gases to get trapped inside and cause complications. Another thing that can cause complications or hazards is having decals on helmets, as the materials they are made of could potentially catch on fire.

Butler Fire Chief Jim Neill said he offers the training at the facility not only to his own firefighters, but members of all departments that participate in Butler's Mutual Aid agreement as well, as frequently as the space is available and the department can pay to rent it.

"We may have six guys show up, we may have 25," he said before Friday's training.

But of the ones who do participate, Lonagan emphasized that they are practicing in a training facility and that even if they do not complete the course perfectly, they are still learning.