LAFAYETTE, Ind. | Sept. 27, 2026
Fifteen firefighters will begin training at the Wea Township Fire Department on Monday as the department starts an in-house academy covering hazardous materials response and the skills required for Firefighter I and II certification.
The academy was organized for Wea Township firefighters, but the department offered its remaining seats to students from other fire departments. All 15 seats are now filled.
Training will begin with Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations. Students will learn to recognize hazardous materials, assess potential risks and work safely within their level of training. Those skills are relevant across Wea Township, where emergency calls can involve roadways, farms, neighborhoods and businesses.
Students will then move into Firefighter I and II training, which covers core fireground skills such as fire behavior, hose and ladder operations, forcible entry, ventilation, and search and rescue. The academy will combine classroom instruction with hands-on practice.
Hosting the course locally gives Wea Fire a way to train new members without sending them elsewhere for the full program. It also brings firefighters from different departments into the same training environment. Those departments may later work together on emergency scenes, making the relationships formed during training useful beyond the academy.