Above: The Southborough Fire Department will burn this house on White Bagley Road as a training exercise

A house on White Bagley Road will be set ablaze on Saturday, and the Southborough Fire Department will be the ones lighting the match.

The owners of the 1,100 square-foot home at 41 White Bagley Road planned to tear it down. Instead of bringing in a backhoe, they offered the fire department the opportunity to burn it down as a training exercise. The department gladly accepted.

Fire Chief John Mauro Jr. said doing a live burn will offer a unique training opportunity for his crew. When firefighters train at the firefighting academy, they practice fighting fires in a concrete building. “I have guys coming out of the academy without ever having fought a fire in a real house,” he said.

Mauro said when they ignite the home on White Bagley, firefighters will encounter conditions they wouldn’t see in a concrete building like thick black smoke and flames that travel through walls and ceilings.

The live burn will be conducted by certified fire instructors. Fire crews from Northborough and Berlin will also participate.

White Bagley Road will be closed all day on Saturday for the training exercise.