The Adams Fire District and Mid-State Technical College have reached a ten-year collaborative agreement to create a fire training site in Adams to expand area regional training in fire protection and emergency services. The partners formalized the agreement with a signing event held at Mid-State’s Adams Campus on Oct. 17.

“This new partnership between Mid-State Technical College and Adams Fire District is a perfect example of collaboration and innovation and will go a long way toward solving our current challenges with training and staffing emergency public protection professionals,” said Randy Thiesen, president of the Adams Fire District Board of Directors. “The increased access to local training provided by this new site will benefit the health and safety of the entire Adams area.”

The new training site will be built on a parcel of land at 399 East Ann Street in Adams. The location will support training closer to local fire departments, greatly increasing convenience and access for trainees in the central Wisconsin region and producing savings in travel costs and time commitment. The site will also allow training to occur while firefighters and their equipment remain nearer to their jurisdictions. 

As part of the agreement, Mid-State will make annual capital investments to help develop the site, which in time may include a variety of fire training equipment installations, such as a splash tower for ladder training, a concrete pad for auto extrication and burn towers. Facility development will be evaluated and prioritized every year through fire department and college collaboration. 

Mid-State’s involvement in the project stemmed from listening sessions, meetings and surveys conducted by the College to identify solutions to better serve its surrounding communities. That process identified a need for a decentralized training model for fire training across the region, allowing fire trainings closer to the agencies they serve. Mid-State’s role in bringing the project to fruition includes providing training on site and procuring needed equipment to support state-of-the-art fire learning experiences. The fire training offered by the College will primarily focus on meeting the entry-level and advanced training needs of the Mid-State District fire departments. 

“This project is Mid-State’s third fire training partnership agreement and brings our district approach to decentralized fire training full circle,” said Mid-State President Dr. Shelly Mondeik. “The Adams Fire District Training Center is a win-win for all involved, and we are grateful to our partners for helping us achieve our shared vision to improve access to fire training locally for all communities in the Mid-State district.”

According to Adams Fire Chief Darin Kurth, the training site will allow the Adams Fire District to bring in different fire and technical rescue training props on site, further enhancing the training fire department personnel receive, in-house and across the region. 

“The development of this training site will allow the Adams Fire District to bring in different fire and technical rescue training props on site, further enhancing the training fire department personnel receive, in house and across the region,” Kurth said. “We will be able to employ real-life scenarios and state-of-the-art training techniques to prepare current and future firefighters. Training firefighters using realistic settings and equipment creates advanced skills and practice for true emergencies, and the value of that cannot be exaggerated.”

Next steps in the agreement call on the partners to identify early training needs and prioritize the investment in equipment and props as well as prepare the site for development. Training at the site is anticipated to launch in the 2023-24 school year.