Photo by Deb Gau Marshall firefighters use a hose during a training exercise at the former C&N Game Room Outlet building on East College Drive on Tuesday evening. The orange glow from a fire lit for a different training exercise could be seen through a doorway at the back of the room.

MARSHALL — The empty building on East College Drive had already had a couple of new uses this spring, like an art canvas and law enforcement training grounds. Now it was the Marshall Fire Department’s turn to go inside.

On Tuesday evening the building’s interior was getting smoky, with the help of burning straw bales. In a back room, a pair of firefighters crouched down and aimed a hose like they would at a real fire scene.

“You want to get the ceiling,” said Fire Chief Quentin Brunsvold as he helped lead the training exercise.

As firefighters pointed the hose upward, the water knocked down ceiling tiles and insulation. Meanwhile, different groups of firefighters were preparing to do search and rescue training at the front of the building, and on the upper floor.

Getting to hold training at the former C&N Game Room Outlet on Tuesday was a good opportunity for the fire department, Brunsvold said.

“We don’t typically get a lot of commercial buildings available for this kind of work,” Brunsvold said.

The C&N building was eventually headed for demolition, but first Lockwood Motors had made it available for emergency responder training.

Brunsvold said the fire department had a variety of training exercises planned that night. The design of the building gave them a chance to use different tactics than they would use at a house fire.

“We don’t get a lot of practice cutting flat roofs,” he said. The fact that the building had a second story also opened up opportunities for aerial training.

The fire training did attract some attention from people in the neighborhood around East College Drive and Sunrise Lane. A few local residents gathered near the property to watch the fire trucks and the training exercises.

Brunsvold said the fire department had put the word out on social media about the training earlier in the day.

“We wanted everyone to know it’s just training,” he said. Although there was smoke at the property, there wasn’t a threat to the public.