Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
To address “training deserts” across Indiana, the state plans to build five new firefighter training sites, including two in the Radius Indiana region. Paoli in Orange County and Washington Township in Daviess County were announced Tuesday as two of the five sites.
Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, along with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, made the announcement in Wabash during a dedication of a new fire training facility there. The other sites announced were Chrisney (Spencer County), Hartford City (Blackford County) and Rushville (Rush County).
The training towers will be equipped with live-burn capabilities, which is a required part of firefighter training.
“Every Hoosier community relies on and deserves a strong public safety presence,” Holcomb said. “For years, gaps have challenged and stretched Indiana’s fire service across the state. Now, with this new program, we have the opportunity to properly support all those firefighters who sacrifice so much for each and every one of us everyday.”
Paoli Fire Department Chief Mark Jones and Washington Township (Daviess County) Fire Chief David Gray, both of whom attended Tuesday’s announcement, said the training facilities will eliminate the need for firefighters to travel long distances for training.
“This is awesome that we’re going to have this facility,” Gray said.
Both Paoli and Washington Township departments are manned with volunteers. Daviess County has 10 volunteer fire departments; only the Washington Fire Department, which serves the city, is paid.
Volunteer firefighters must take the same training as professional firefighters.
“Most of them have full-time jobs and young families. If they have to travel 50 miles for some of the training, they’re not going to want to do it,” Gray said.
Gray and Jones said it’s getting more difficult to recruit volunteer firefighters, resulting in departments with firefighters who are older and close to retiring from service.
“I think this will make a difference. It will bring some pride back that these guys have a nice facility to train in and bolster recruitment,” Jones said. “I thanked the governor and Indiana Fire Marshal Steve Jones because in my time, we haven’t seen anything to this magnitude to help the volunteer ranks.”
Wabash was one of four Phase I locations announced in 2023 as the result of $17.7 million in state funding approved by the Indiana General Assembly. The other Phase I locations included Corydon, Linton and Rensselaer, all of which will be completed this summer. $10 million of those funds were earmarked for new personal protection equipment for volunteer firefighters, leaving $7.7 million for training site construction.
In total, the Hub-and-Spoke training initiative has funded nine training locations.
“What we’re doing has never been done in the state of Indiana,” said Indiana Fire Marshal Steve Jones. “The majority of Indiana fire departments are made up of volunteers who are unable to travel far to receive the proper training. This plan tells them we care about the quality of training available to them, and we’re committed to making it more accessible.”
When Paoli FD’s Chief Jones joined the department 25 years ago, community service was what motivated most volunteers. These days, he said, “Fire service is in a crisis.”
“There’s been a culture change. Years ago, the volunteer firefighters were farmers, factory workers and business owners, but that’s not the case anymore,” Jones said. “You have to be young enough, healthy enough and willing to get up in the middle of the night to be a volunteer.”
Over the last few years, the state has invested in fire training instructors who go into the rural communities to teach the certification classes, but the volunteers still had to travel for the live burn training.
Jones, whose department responds to about 300 calls a year, said his new recruits have driven as far as Bloomington and Indianapolis for live burn training. Departments continue their live burn training to maintain their skills and Jones said having a facility in the community will improve the department’s training.
Washington Township’s training site will be built behind Station 2. The Paoli training site will be located south of the fairgrounds off Hospital Road.
“The county is setting aside five acres and that was extremely helpful in getting this all to come together. We thank the county commissioner for making that happen,” Jones said.
The training facilities can also be used by departments in neighboring counties.
In addition to training, many volunteer departments have been receiving personal protective equipment in recent weeks, sometimes replacing gear that was handed down from another department and could be more than a decade old. The $10 million investment will fund 940 complete PPE sets for 66 departments across Indiana.
More information about the Hub-and-Spoke initiative can be found on the here.