For Immediate Release

Monday, March 7, 2016

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

Groveland Firefighters Graduate from State Firefighting Academy

GROVELAND – Chief Robert Lay is pleased to announce that Firefighters Richard York, Taylor Balletto, Chris Bosch, Phil Gray, Connor Hendry and Patrick Pennie graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy last week.

The men are six of the 32 graduates from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Call/Volunteer Firefighter Recruit Training Program Class 57. A ceremony was held at Pentucket Regional Middle School in West Newbury on March 3.

“Congratulations to our six firefighters. Completing this class is a significant investment for each firefighter in their personal development and improving the department as a whole,” Chief Lay said. “I applaud them for committing to serve this town and our residents as call firefighters.”

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).

The remaining 26 graduates, 25 men and one woman, represent the 14 fire departments of Boxford, Georgetown, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Merrimac, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, Rockport, Rowley, Wenham, West Newbury, and Westford.

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