A brand new ghost town has popped up in Melbourne, with the launch of a $109 million safety training centre.

The state-of-the-art Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre (VEMTC) is built to mimic a broad range of urban environments to provide the most accurate and dynamic incident response training around.

The site can simulate real-life situations for emergency services, from a car catching fire in an underground car park, to protocols for clearing a burned-out building.

Road, rail, tunnel and marine fires and chemical spills are covered, as well as urban search and rescue, criminal response, traffic incidents just about any other emergency.

One of the most fitted-out buildings in the largely prop town facility includes seven-storeys of controlled training environment, complete with a car park. and facilities for high-angle and aerial rescue.

The building has been filled with fire and smoke-emitting situations that a fire-fighter would encounter in a multi-storey situation.

“It has different themed floors fitted out to simulate an atrium space/ground floor lobby, a cafe, prison cells, commercial office, hotel rooms, cinema, supermarket, nightclub, plant rooms and high rise apartments with balconies,” architecture firm Woods Bagot said.

Other urban and suburban props include a retail strip complete with shop-front areas, a Melbourne-themed transport hub offering roads, highways, tram tracks an underground tunnel and public transport stops.

VEMTC can also conduct scenarios around a ship and port/docking area, petrochemical plant, factory or scientific laboratory.

It even has room for expansion, as it sits on an 18.6-hectare site.

The project is considered a world-first due to its detailed replications of urban and suburban environments, and its ability to cater for various emergency departments and scenarios.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine officially opened VEMTC alongside with Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Bushfire Response Kim Wells, Minister for Major Projects, Ports and Manufacturing David Hodgett, and Metropolitan Fire Brigade president Neil Comrie and CEO Jim Higgins.

Napthine said the facility would promote “interoperability allowing each agency to grow and adapt to future demands.”

The new site will be used by volunteer and emergency professionals from the MFB, CFA, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Victorian State Emergency Services (SES) and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI).