Around 50 firefighters from nearly every fire department in Mercer County participated in a controlled house burn at 6228 State Route 118 on Sunday, Celina Fire Chief Joel Lange said. The annual training event was hosted by the Celina Fire Department this year and lasted from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

  The property owners, listed as Paul and Amy Wenning on the Mercer County Auditor's website, reached out to the department about using the home for the training, Lange said. The last time area fire departments were able to participate in a controlled burn for training was around three years ago.

  The controlled burn training allowed for firefighters to practice advancing hose line, locating and extinguishing a fire and more, Lange said. While the burn was going on, the state fire marshal's office was also holding firefighting-related classes on various topics at the Celina Elementary School.

Photos by Paige Sutter and Abigail Miller