Crime & Safety
Wilmington Firefighters Graduate From Fire Academy
Three Wilmington firefighters completed an intensive course where they learned a wide variety of skills.
A trio of Wilmington firefighters were among a class of 24 people from 15 fire departments to graduate the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy last week.
On Friday, 22 men and two women from fire departments in Wilmington, Bridgewater, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gloucester, Lexington, Ludlow, Marshfield, Mashpee, Orleans, Tewksbury, Ware, Wayland, Billerica, and Yarmouth graduated the 45-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program.
Among those graduates were Paul Hedderson, Matthew Berger and Gregory Murphy of Wilmington. The ceremony took place in Stow at the Department of Fire Services.
During their time in the Firefighting Academy, participants learned basic skills to respond to fires and contain them. But they also were given more training to prepare them for nearly any scenario.
Firefighters were taught about fire education, hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management, confined space rescue techniques, and rappelling.
The nine-week program for firefighters is taught through different means, such as classroom instruction, physical fitness training, firefighter skills training and live firefighting practice.
“This rigorous professional training provides our newest firefighters with the basic skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely,” said Deputy State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey in a press release.
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