Rarotonga firefighters are being put to the test as their Kiwi counterparts undertake a week long exercise in “just about everything we do”.

On Thursday they were spotted in town where about a dozen firefighters were involved in a mock exercise to retrieve two bodies from a building.

Wanganui based training officer Ross Whetton said four Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) staff arrived on the island on Monday and commenced “delivery of training across the board” on Tuesday.   

They will continue with training until Wednesday next week when they will take part in a live fire exercise.

Whetton said they are covering everything from basic firefighting to search and rescue.

During the Thursday exercise several Rarotonga firefighters were tasked with entering a derelict building and locating two bodies – with zero visibility.

A black out scenario.

Whetton said they had already completed water pump training and would move to portable water pump training today.

He said about a dozen Rarotonga firefighters are involved in the training.

Whetton said it was the first time since Covid-19 that Kiwi fire crews had undertaken training with their Cooks counterparts.