MINOT (AP) - The Minot Fire Department has a new training tool that it hopes will help crews around the region.

The $350,000, three-story "burn building" can be used to expose firefighters to actual fires, under controlled circumstances.

Fire Chief CJ Craven says the only drawback is that the building can't simulate the heat and some of the other conditions present in a real fire.

Craven says the Fire Department wants the facility to be a regional training center, benefiting other departments in the area.