"Firefighting is dangerous, hard work and downright exhausting."

Country Fire Service (CFS) rural team leader Robbie Geytenbeek addresses a pensive group of trainees.

Eight students are about to enter the CFS breathing apparatus training room.

Feet shuffle and nervous grins are exchanged as Mr Geytenbeek details what the teams are in for.

CFS rural team leader Robbie Geytenbeek briefs the trainees before they entire the fireroom. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Brett Williamson )

Soon they will enter a room filled with fire and smoke; it can become hotter than 400 degrees Celsius in there.

This is the first time this group will get to put their training into practice.

For some it will also be the first time they have experienced a fire in a confined area.

The students must wear around 20 kilograms of breathing equipment. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Brett Williamson )

They regimentally begin to put on the 20-odd kilograms of breathing equipment and run through safety checks.

For 21-year-old Corey Littler, it is about as far as he can get from his daytime job as a retail worker at a music store.

For housepainter David Edmonds, 29, it is the first time he will experience a large fire.

"I've only been in the CFS for a year-and-a-half," Mr Edmonds said.

"I've lucked out on getting on this course for sure."

Students crouch in the darkened room as a fire burns at one end. ( Supplied: Country Fire Service )

The group enters the custom-built room and sits in the steel container as a 44-gallon drum of wood is ignited.

Wet straw is then placed on the top of the fire and the room fills with thick smoke.

"Watching that smoke-neutral plane come down was very interesting," Mr Edmonds said.

With vision now reducing, the trainees begin using their thermal imaging cameras (TICs).

A thermal imaging camera reveals heat and bodies in the dark smoke-filled room. ( Supplied: Country Fire Service )

As the heat builds, the group withdraws and begins the next phase of the training.

Now dragging a 100-kilogram firehose, the students are tasked with extinguishing the fire and finding a missing person.

They scramble and crawl along the floor, keeping low to avoid the hotter temperatures near the ceiling.

"I've been to multiple house fires," Mr Littler said, "but seeing it from the inside is definitely a lot different than from the outside."

Three men from a team crouch and prepare to go into the fireroom. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Brett Williamson )

"Between the smoke and the darkness your visibility is really limited.

"You're relying on your partner with the TIC to guide you through."

Pairs crawl in three to four-metre increments to make their way into and out of the fire area.

Drenched in perspiration from heat and physical exertion, the one thing the students can't wipe from their faces is their smiles.