(ABC 6 News) – Just over 300 firefighters were at the Riverland Community College campus in Austin for the state and rescue and fire school on Saturday.

Each participant gained classroom and hands-on experience in a variety of firefighting, rescue and leadership courses designed to enhance performance in fire department’s in Minnesota and it’s surrounding states.

The event is coordinated by the college’s fire training division.

“School’s like this are very beneficial for fire departments to get their continued education training. Things change. Our vehicles are not the same as what they were even 10 years ago,” said Wanda McCoy, the Fire and EMS training program manager at Riverland in Austin.

The event is a yearly thing, and is expected to continue next year.