BAY COUNTY -- It was heated night Tuesday in Bay County's Merritt Township when more than 100 Saginaw Bay Area firefighers got some upclose training on how to handle a catastrophic propane fire.

Organizers say that type of fire is rare and a firefighter may only deal with one once every 5 years.

"when the situation occurs I'm going to know. I'll have a better understanding of how to handle it and not have to learn on the job," said Lt. Kevin Kratz, a Meritt Towship firefighter.

 "They will learn a lot tonight. This training also applies to all sorts of fires that the firefighters are going to get involved in. In fact, our training is so good the State of Michigan now uses our training as a certification process for new firefighters," said Joe Ross with the Michigan Propane Gas Association.

The MPGA's training program is state certified and not only includes live burn scenarios but classroom exercises as well.