AUBURN – In a burned out building on Main Street on Friday morning, teams of fire officials went from floor to floor dripping flammable liquids here and there.

They were not trying to reignite the tenement. The firefighters from around the country were training with their dogs to sniff out and determine the cause of suspicious fires.

In all, six trainers and six dogs prowled through the blackened halls at 369 Main St., honing their skills in sniffing out accelerants used to start fires. Mostly it was the dogs doing the sniffing. Each of them has been trained in the task, and Friday’s exercise was aimed at making sure their skills were still sharp.

“The dogs not only get schooling, they get certified as well,” said Auburn’s Fire Prevention Officer Lt. Gary Simard. “They have to be certified before their handlers can testify in court.”

The Main Street location was a bit of sad serendipity. Fire gutted the building last week and left 17 people homeless. A group of fire officials had been planning to do their dog training at a home in Westbrook on Friday, but the deal fell through.

Enter Rob LaBarbera, who owns the burned building. When asked to open up his apartment house to the fire crews, he was agreeable and the training got under way.

The fire on Main Street last week was not suspicious so the dog handlers set it up to appear that way by dripping hydrocarbons around the building. With their dogs, they moved from floor to floor as the animals tried to sniff out accelerants such as gasoline, oil or kerosene. These are mild-mannered dogs. They do not get excited and jump up and down when they do well. They do not possess the canine machismo seen in police dogs.

“They don’t want excitable, hyper dogs,” Simmered said. “They want mellow, laid back dogs.”

For that reason, the animals used for accelerant sniffing are generally yellow or black Labradors, dogs known for low-key dispositions. These are humble dogs eager only to complete their task and earn a treat.

“When the dog hits on an accelerant, it sits down,” Simard said.

No dancing in the end zone, no high fives. They have been trained that way under the supervision of Paul Gallagher, a former state police canine trainer who has been working dogs since 1987.

These days Gallagher, who operates Maine Specialty Dogs Training, teaches the animals to sniff out substances used to start fires. He does so for State Farm Insurance, which sponsors the training. The teams that trained on Friday were comprised of handlers and dogs from agencies in Florida, California, Maryland, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Missouri.