One fire department in northwest Missouri is getting hands-on training when it comes to battling propane fires.

The Chillicothe Fire Department recently completed construction of a propane live fire prop. Fire Chief Darrell Wright said the prop will give firefighters from Chillicothe and all across north Missouri hands-on training in a live fire situations involving propane.

“There’s a lot of it in our area so we definitely want to be prepared should the need arise and the only way to be prepared is to train on it,” Wright said.

MFA Oil Company Foundation and Ferrellgas provided funds and labor for the project. Wright said the prop has an emergency switch just in case, which is located about 30 feet from the actual tank.

“We’ll start some live fires but we’ll always have a classroom to start with,” Wright said. “We’ll go in and simulate turning the tank off and working with it.”

Many homes in the area use propane for heating and cooking. Wright said training on the new prop will be essential in situations where firefighters get called out for a house fire at a home that uses propane.

“Sometimes we have houses that get on fire that get close to the tank and heat the tank up, sometimes we have bobtail trucks that could be involved in an accident, there are all kinds of scenarios out on the farm where propane is leaking, or a line ruptures. We have all kinds of scenarios in the farming community that can have propane,” Wright said.

Wright said the propane live fire prop will be available for firefighters from all across north Missouri to get hands-on training.