MUNCIE, Ind. -- State safety officials said volunteer firefighters weren't properly trained for their attempt to rescue two workers who were fatally overcome by muriatic acid fumes in eastern Indiana.

The state Department of Labor found that Liberty Township firefighters not trained in confined-space rescue entered a 5-foot-wide-by-12-foot-deep well pit at a home near Muncie on May 26.

Township Fire Chief Brent Devine told The Star Press that the department would stop attempting any confined-space rescues until its firefighters were properly trained and equipped. He said that could take three years.

Eric Dalton, 40, and Justin Benson, 19, both of Anderson, died from the fumes. Two firefighters were hospitalized after the accident.