Press Release  34 Fire Officers Graduate from Management Training Program

STOW — Nearly three dozen fire service leaders from across Massachusetts graduated today from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Chief Fire Officer Management Training Program, said State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey and Deputy State Fire Marshal Maribel Fournier, who serves as acting director of the MFA.

The prestigious 13-week program is delivered jointly by the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston and the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy. UMass and MFA staff were assisted by Barre Fire Chief Robert Rogowski, a 2020 graduate of the program who served as a program coordinator.

“These fire service professionals committed themselves to leadership within their departments and service within their communities,” said State Fire Marshal Ostroskey. “I’d like to commend each and every one of them for stepping forward, mastering a complex and demanding curriculum, and contributing to the interests of public service and public safety.”

The 34 chiefs, deputy chiefs, and assistant chiefs hail from the fire departments of Beverly, Brookline, Chatham, Douglas, Easton, Groton, Groveland, Hadley, Hampden, Harwich, Lincoln, Mansfield, Marshfield, Mendon, Milford, Nantucket, Norton, Norwell, Plymouth, Rockland, Sherborn, Somerset, Southbridge, Stoughton, Sturbridge, Tisbury, Wayland, Wellesley, West Springfield, Westminster, Wilbraham, Woburn, and Yarmouth.

The Chief Fire Officer Management Training Program helps high-level fire officers improve their ability to lead and manage their departments. Since last fall, program participants have studied a broad array of topics considered essential for effective public sector management. These include personal leadership styles, municipal finance, planning and budgeting, public information, behavioral health, contemporary legal issues, fire mobilization, executive leadership, intergovernmental relations, ethics and logic, human resources management, public speaking, and executive communications. Program participants underwent nearly 100 hours of classroom instruction led by subject matter experts, with considerable out-of-class reading and research as preparation. Today’s graduates were the first to deliver their final research papers virtually, preparing them for the growing use of remote meetings and enhancing the skills they can expect to use in municipalities across the state. 

Video of the ceremony is available at the Department of Fire Services' YouTube channel. The Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, a division of the Department of Fire Services, offers this program tuition-free. Today’s graduating class is the 27^th in the program’s history.

###