A muffled, inaudible radio transmission crackled in the air Thursday afternoon as a firefighter took a sledgehammer to a second floor apartment window in the now-empty University Village apartments.

Three firefighters were trapped in the smoke-filled room below.

Shattering the glass, three firefighters went to work wiping away jutting shards from the window frame before climbing inside the room. A firefighter tapped the floor with a sledgehammer, waiting for a corresponding tap from below to discern where to punch a hole in the floor.

In the farthest room, a firefighter used a chain saw to cut through the floor while his comrades sat below and tried to conserve their oxygen. Carpet and floorboards were peeled away, and smoke from the room below billowed upward.

All three escaped up a ladder, with one firefighter running out of oxygen just as he was being pulled out.

After the rescue, firefighters gathered in a group to discuss their now-completed training exercise.

Fire departments from East Lansing, Lansing, Meridian Township and Delhi Township participated in the simulated rescue training using the soon-to-be demolished apartment complex Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

Leo Allaire, spokesman for the East Lansing Fire Department, said that although they were not permitted to use actual fire for the training, the department tried to make it as realistic as possible.

Using fog machines, paint-covered windows, 185-pound dummies, furniture donated by the MSU Surplus Store and free reign to hack through walls and floors, conditions were made to resemble an actual rescue situation the firefighters might encounter, he said.

"You have to execute it," Allaire said. "As a firefighter, things happen so fast that you can't think about what you're going to do, so you have to depend on your training."

Established structures for training are harder to come by, but the department utilizes opportunities when it can, Allaire said. There is always the occasional abandoned house or building about to be demolished, he said.

Wearing all their gear, more than 100 firefighters went through about 30 apartments playing out three main types of scenarios: "oriented search," "vent, enter and search" and "rapid intervention team."

Oriented search, which involves searching for and rescuing a victim, is what firefighters do about 80 percent of the time, Allaire said.

The rapid intervention situation, however, occurs when firefighters are trapped by a collapse or intense heat source, Allaire said.

The training was geared toward any firefighter, whether he or she is new or "well-seasoned," Allaire said.

East Lansing Fire Department Captain Greg Tracy, coordinator of the event, said the university presented them with the opportunity to use the buildings before they were demolished.

"We have a pretty good relationship with MSU, and they let us know they were having a demolition," he said. "We jumped on that."

Prior to the training, asbestos material was removed from pipe coverings and other areas the firefighters might have encountered. The department ruled out setting fire to the buildings because there was more asbestos that didn't have to be removed before demolition and could be harmful if set on fire and made airborne, Tracy said.

But he's heard a lot of positive responses so far about the training, Tracy said.

Lansing Fire Department Captain Leon Parker said this training is just one of many classes, conferences and practice simulations in which some firefighters participate.

Departments will inevitably work together, making regional training beneficial, Parker said.

"Attitudes might be different, but firefighters are all the same," he said.

Despite not having the noise and low visibility that a real fire situation causes, Thursday was a great experience, he said.

"We try to get as much out of it," Parker said. " So when we revert back to instinct, we have a thought process."