STOW, MA – Deputy State Fire Marshal Maribel Fournier and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy (MFA) Director David C. Evans announced the graduation of the 271st class of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s fifty-day Career Recruit Firefighter Training Program on March 8, 2019. “This rigorous professional training provides our newest firefighters with the basic skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely,” said State Fire Marshal Ostroskey. The Massachusetts Firefighting Academy (MFA), a division of the Department of Fire Services, offers this program tuition-free. The ceremony took place at the Department of Fire Services in Stow, MA.
36 Graduates from 23 Fire Departments
The graduates include F/F Emily Olsson and F/F Drew Girouard of the Bourne Fire Department.
F/F John Puleo of the Hyannis Fire Department
F/F Ryan Quinn of the Sandwich Fire Department
F/F Stefan Napolitan of the Yarmouth Fire Department
Guest Speaker: Retired Wrentham Deputy Fire Chief David Wiklund
The guest speaker was retired Wrentham Deputy Fire Chief David Wiklund. He has 32 years of fire service experience and rose through the ranks to deputy chief in 2010. Deputy Chief Wiklund also served on the Norfolk County Rescue Team as a search specialist. Deputy Wiklund has a bachelor’s from Providence College and a master’s from Anna Maria College. He is a graduate of the Chief Fire Officer Management Program and a certified chief officer. Even though he retired in 2017, he continues to work as a Massachusetts Firefighting Academy instructor. He spoke to the graduates about how learning is something firefighters need to do throughout their careers to keep safe, and to keep each other safe.
Today’s Firefighters Do Far More than Fight Fires
Today’s firefighters do far more than fight fires. They are the first ones called to respond to chemical and environmental emergencies, ranging from the suspected presence of carbon monoxide to a gas leak. They may be called to rescue a child who has fallen through the ice or who has locked himself in a bathroom. They rescue people from stalled elevators and those who are trapped in vehicle crashes. They test and maintain their equipment including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), hydrants, hoses, power tools, and apparatus.
At the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, they learn all these skills and more from certified fire instructors who are also experienced firefighters. Students learn all the basic skills they need to respond to, contain and control fires. They are receive training in public fire education, hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management, confined space rescue techniques, and rappelling. The intensive, ten-week program for municipal firefighters involves classroom instruction, physical fitness training, firefighter skills training, and live firefighting practice.
Basic Firefighter Skills
Students receive classroom training in all basic firefighter skills. They practice first under non-fire conditions and then during controlled fire conditions. To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack. Fire attack operations range from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or multiple-room structural fires. Upon successful completion of the Recruit Program all students have met national standards of National Fire Protection Association 1001 and are certified to the level of Firefighter I and II, and Hazardous Materials First Responder Operational Level by the Massachusetts Fire Training Council, which is accredited by the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications.
