Thankfully, on this occasion, there was no genuine emergency.

The smoke was coming from machines, the piercing noise going off was part of the drill, and the burst of high-adrenaline activity was scheduled.

Leading firefighter Adrian Adams said he didn't think they had created much cause for alarm, except literally.

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"As far as the public is concerned, we've tried to keep this low-key," he said.

"All of the visitors have been notified that there is an exercise going on today."

It is not uncommon for firefighters to be called to multi-level buildings like hotels, Mr Adams said, so it's important they know how to deal with the unique challenges of that type of structure.

The exercise simulated an alarm call with one truck arriving. They received information that there was heavy smoke on the third floor, and upgraded it to a structure fire, calling another truck.

The exercise required them to operate their gear in the confined space of a stairwell, use thermal-imaging technology to "see" through the smoke, test their fitness running up stairs carrying heavy equipment, and then extinguish the fake blaze.

"Our firefighters are very calm when it comes to this kind of thing," Mr Adams said. "As you can imagine, that comes about through training."

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