It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, but the black smoke trailing over March Point might have left the impression there was a refinery fire, but that's not what was going on.
Firefighters from several Skagit County fire districts practices firefighting techniques at an empty home on East March Point Road. One firefighter quipped "They didn't pay their taxes." But, he quickly added "This is serious training for us."
The firefighters came from Anacortes, Bayview, Guemes Island, Hope Island, La Conner, McLean Road, Mount Erie, Summit Park and Tesoro fire departments.
The training exercise didn't seem to attract a lot of attention. A dozen or so onlookers were watching from across the road as several dozen firefighters started a fire in the house, then put it out, only to start all over again.