Lane Heins, the new lead instructor for the Fire Protection Technician program, has been in emergency services for nearly 30 years in both the fire and EMS fields. He was previously a deputy fire chief for 15 years and has been an adjunct instructor at Blackhawk since 1997. 

A native of Monroe, Lane graduated from UW-Platteville with a bachelor’s degree in Education. He also received a master’s degree in Emergency Services Management from Columbia Southern University and is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy in Maryland.

Helping those in need is something that was instilled in Lane at an early age, and he’s always wanted to get into the fire service.

“Using my education degree and passion for public safety, the two allowed me to teach others as well as provide a service at the same time,” he said.

One of the things Lane likes most about Blackhawk is the flexibility the college allows its instructors to have and its commitment to public safety, which has seen big improvements in his time here, especially within the last few years.

“With the new addition of the training facility, we are able to provide a state-of-the-art learning environment for the student to be more successful and learn more skills before going out on the street,” he said.

Lane says the program has a long-term vision for the training facility and that it cannot get there without the support of the Blackhawk family and surrounding communities.

When he’s not instructing, Lane enjoys helping with the farming operation and excavation work at a friend’s farm. He also works with the South Wayne Fire and EMS Department as the training officer and teaches for the National Fire Academy in Incident Management. When not working in some capacity, he and his wife Lana have two daughters, Ava and Alli, and a dog, Max.