SHREWSBURY — Fire Chief James Vuona is pleased to announce that four members of the Shrewsbury Fire Department graduated from the Massachusetts Fire Academy last week.
Originally published by JOHN GUILFOIL
SHREWSBURY — Fire Chief James Vuona is pleased to announce that four members of the Shrewsbury Fire Department graduated from the Massachusetts Fire Academy last week.
Firefighters Alex Milosz, Craig Mawdsley, Michael Penney and Connor Jordan were among 12 firefighters from eight departments to graduate from the academy’s Career Recruit Firefighter Training Program Class 288 on Friday, Jan. 8. Graduates were recognized at a ceremony at the Department of Fire Services headquarters in Stow.
The four firefighters were hired through a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant, which funds a portion of their salaries and benefits for the first three years of their service with the Shrewsbury Fire Department.
“The addition of these four members helps to increase our staffing levels to ensure that we’re providing the highest possible level of service to the Shrewsbury community,” Chief Vuona said. “All of us at Shrewsbury Fire Department are looking forward to working alongside our new firefighters and we all congratulate them on completing this rigorous training program.”
The 10-week program teaches the essentials of fire and non-fire conditions, life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation and fire attack.
The other graduates represent the fire departments of Acton, Billerica, Cambridge, Foxborough, Natick, Templeton and Tewksbury.
The Massachusetts Firefighting Academy:
At the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, firefighter recruits learn a wide range of skills in an intensive 10-week program. Certified and more experienced firefighters lead classroom instruction, physical fitness training, firefighter skills training and firefighting practice. Students are given training in public fire education, hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management, confined space rescue techniques and rappelling. Upon successful completion of the Recruit Program, all students have met national standards of National Fire Protection Association 1001.
