3/12/2009 - West Side Leader
     

To the editor:

For the last 14 months, several Bath Fire Department personnel logged almost 600 hours of training and education as they attended classes to obtain the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) “Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Standard 1021.”

Lts. George Seifert and Dave Flowers completed their Fire Officer One Certification early in 2008. In the fall of 2008, they, along with Chief Jim Paulett and Assistant Chief Tim Gemind, completed and obtained the Fire Officer Two certification. For the first two months of this year, Lt. Kevin Hylbert and fire-medics John Rodriguez and Scott Forshey completed the Fire Officer One program.

The Fire Officer One program, geared toward a first-line supervisor, is an 80-hour program covering the following: human resources, community and government relations, administration, fire inspections and fire investigations, emergency service delivery and health and safety.

Fire Officer Two, a 40-hour class, focuses on the same topics as the Fire Officer One but goes more in depth, or to a higher level, if you will. This class is a good fit for a staff officer or captain level. Hylbert, Rodriguez and Forshey are in hopes of completing this certification in the fall.

The NFPA also recognizes Fire Officer Three (class in the planning stage) and Four. Once again, each class/certification builds on the core topics covered in Fire Officer One.

The driving force behind these classes is the Training Center for Fire and Hazardous Materials at The University of Akron. They utilize a pool of instructors from several departments within Summit County, outside the county and professors from The University of Akron.

The student makeup of the classes held so far has covered all volunteer, part-paid and career (combination) and all career departments, with attendees ranging from a line firefighter to chief officers.

The Bath Fire Department prides itself in training and education to maintain a strong, safe organization and provide exceptional customer service.

Tim Gemind, assistant chief, Bath Fire Department

• Correction/clarification
• MAD’s mission to keep mosquito population low
• Directors thankful for kickball event
• To see the stars, use your pupils
• Cartoon 7-29-10