For Immediate Release

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

West Bridgewater Firefighter Graduates from State Firefighting Academy

WEST BRIDGEWATER – Fire Chief Leonard T. Hunt is pleased to announce that firefighter Kevin J. Foster Jr. graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy last week.

Foster is one of 24 graduates from the 243th class of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s 45-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program. A ceremony was held at the Department of Fire Services in Stow on Friday, May 20 at 1:30 p.m.

Originally from Randolph, the 28-year-old has been a member of the West Bridgewater Fire Department since January.

“Firefighter Foster has proven to be a valuable asset to our team since he started with the department earlier this year,” Chief Hunt said. “We are all proud of him for graduating from the academy and are looking forward to continuing to watch him develop as a firefighter.”

The intensive nine-week state firefighting academy for municipal firefighters involves classroom instruction, physical fitness training, skills training and live firefighting practice.

Firefighters learned the basic skills they need to respond to fires, including how to contain and control them, public fire education, hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management, confined space rescue techniques and rappelling.

To graduate, firefighters were required to demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation and fire attack (ranging from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or multi-room structural fires).

“This rigorous professional training provides our newest firefighters with the basic skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely,” State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey said in a statement.

The remaining 23 graduates, 21 men and two women, represent the 19 fire departments of Amesbury, Bedford, Cambridge, Clinton, Concord, Dighton, Franklin, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Marlborough, Middleborough, Nantucket, North Andover, Norton, Norwood, Somerville, Wayland, and Woburn.

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