Bedford Firefighter Graduates from State Firefighting Academy

BEDFORD – Fire Chief David Grunes announced Friday that firefighter and paramedic Dan Curtin graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Friday afternoon.

Curtin 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 today at 1:30 p.m.

The 28-year-old Bedford native comes from a family of public safety professionals who work in the region. He has always wanted to pursue a career in public safety and previously worked as a paramedic for Armstrong Ambulance.

“We are proud of Firefighter Curtin for graduating from the academy today,” Chief Grunes said. “He is a strong addition to our department and we are excited to continue to watch him develop his firefighting and paramedic skills.”

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,” said State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey in a statement.

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

Photo Courtesy of the Bedford Fire Department: Bedford firefighter Dan Curtin (left) pictured at his graduation from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy with his uncle, Bedford Fire Capt. Mark Sullivan (right).