Tampa firefighters are getting hands-on training on how to get through hurricane-resistant windows.

The glass that can help protect your home in a hurricane can be a challenge for first responders in an emergency, and recent changes to building codes means firefighters are faced with more windows made of that glass.

That’s why Michael Hollander, the owner of Weather Tite Windows in Tampa, offered this training exercise.

"With this type of glass, you have a plastic laminate similar to what's in your car windshield, only three times as thick," he said. "We want to just make sure that our first responders are able to practice to get through."

Getting through now means firefighters use a variety of hand and power tools to bash and cut their way through these windows that don’t break as easily as regular glass.

With a standard window, a firefighter can get through with one swing of an ax, but the new windows call for a different plan of attack.

"It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be," firefighter John Cannon said.

Firefighter Lydell Ross says these windows mean you have to be more aggressive with your technique.

After the training, firefighters said they'll have a better idea of how best to bash their way through these windows.

"To come out here and actually hands-on test the limitations of the abilities of our tools and know what those are certainly gives us an advantage when we go to a fire," Cannon said.