Local Fire Officers Graduate Management Training

COURTESY OF THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE
Thirty-two fire officers graduate from Fire Officer Management Training on Monday.

STOW – Firefighters from four local towns were among 32 officers to graduate this week from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Chief Fire Officer Management Training Program.

Fire officers from Brewster, Eastham, Orleans and Wareham finished the 13-week course that provides training in the non-fire suppression aspects of managing fire departments.

The program was developed in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association Standards for chief fire officers and is delivered jointly by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

The courses help officers improve their ability to lead and manage a fire department by providing skills to understand employees’ needs and problems, promote personal productivity, increase the capacity to manage both human and technical resources and increase interagency cooperation.

In order to graduate, participants are required to write a formal research paper that identifies a current issue facing their organization and the proposal of a solution. Officers must then present their solution proposal to a mock panel of municipal officials.