Fires are burning hotter and faster and training is the best way for firefighters to do their job and return home safely, Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa told a crowd of elected officials from throughout Hamilton County on Nov. 22.

A meeting, which included mayors, city councilors and township representatives, was assembled by the Hamilton County Commissioners as a way to inform all stakeholders on plans to add on to the county’s training center.

Proposed plans for the 96 acres, owned by Westfield on River Road in Noblesville, include a multi-story burn tower, a 20-line weapons training and qualifications range, infrastructure for roads and a small building for classrooms, equipment and bathrooms. Officials estimate the project will cost $3 million.

“Building it is the easy part, quite honestly,” Commissioner Christine Altman said, adding that one idea is that the county would come up with the necessary capital funds using a county-wide general obligation bond. “The hard thing is, once we build it, how do we maintain it? I think we have a good model with the (911) communications center.”

The potential additions would provide local training areas that currently require a drive or are not found in Central Indiana.

“There is nowhere to do live fire training unless we have this training facility,” said Orusa. “Right now we are using shipping containers to try and do live fire training. We need your help because the first time a firefighter is in live fire training should be inside a burning building. It should be in a controlled training environment where mistakes are affordable.”

Orusa said the training center decision is “a very visceral issue” for the fire departments.

“Our people do everything in their power to provide them with the training and equipment to keep them safe because when we commit them to harm’s way and put them at risk, we indirectly put their families in harm’s way and their families don’t have a choice,” he said. “By providing them that equipment and by providing them that training in those training facilities, we help them manage that risk so they can go home to their families.”

Hamilton County Sheriff Mark Bowen said his deputies must travel to Plainfield to use the Indiana State Police’s high-speed facility to practice evasive driving. Also, officers travel to Tipton to practice on a small gun range.

“It doesn’t completely meet their needs,” he said. “A range facility is certainly something we would be interested in.”

Officials said the county tried to create a joint facility in the ’80s, but jurisdictional issues caused it to fall apart.

“All of us understand we need this training facility because we are spending lots of money out of county,” said Commissioner Steve Dillinger. “We’re talking about the difference between what we are already spending and what happens if we do it here and it’s coming out of our budgets. And that means we have to prioritize this.”

Consensus among the elected officials was in favor of moving forward and providing support from their government.

“I like this concept, first of all because it is scalable so you can start with the bare essentials,” Fishers mayor-elect Scott Fadness said. “Live fire training is critical for our firefighters. We pay a ridiculous amount of overtime to have firefighters train if they can even get in to other places … We’re sending guys out all over the place and to have it in our own backyard is the best thing.”

Of the seven Hamilton County councilors, Steve Schwartz, Amy Massillamany and Jim Belden were the only ones in attendance. Each publically admitted their support for the project.

“I don’t know if our council can count to four yet so lobby your council member,” Schwartz said, referring to the number needed to approve the project.

In 2014, the Hamilton County Training Center has had 17,397 training hours and 3,536 participants representing 22 local, state and federal agencies.

“If we build a first class facility, people will come and spend money on food, beverages and lodging,” Westfield City Council President Jim Ake said. “We’ll collect taxes on that. It should be another shining star in the Hamilton County crown.”