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ROME, N.Y. -- Flames shot into the air at Griffiss International Airport Thursday morning, but this wasn't the result of a plane crash. Rome firefighters were training for an airport emergency using an aircraft fire simulator.

Local departments get to work once a year with the machine that trains first responders how to fight fuel spill, engine and break fires and how to rescue passengers trapped inside, but the skills they learn here can also be put to use in a variety of dangerous situations.

"It works twofold because you've got the spill fire that you can take back to your departments and use the same as if you had a diesel truck rollover with a fire or a gasoline tanker out on the highway. So they get some experience that way, plus they get the actual experience of getting inside the airplane," said Bill Sutherland, crash fire rescue training guide at Griffiss.

Ten crews trained on the simulator during its three days at Griffiss