WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --
Last week, Westover became the first
military or civilian fire department in Massachusetts-- and the first in the
Air Force Reserve Command--to earn a top-line international accreditation.
Westover earned this distinction
with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International on Aug. 27.
This accreditation, held by just 23
out of 180 Air Force fire departments and only 218 nationwide, provides an
internationally recognized benchmark system to measure the quality of fire and
emergency services, according to Westover Fire Chief, Charles VanGorden.
VanGorden said meeting the international standard of
excellence, written by former fire chiefs, involved five years of preparation.
He said a team of four experts came out
and reviewed every aspect of the fire department, including planning, training,
external systems relations, hazardous materials response, and incident command.
“The team digs deep into the station
and even went out on a response,” said VanGorden.
The team helps agencies compare
their performance to industry best practices during the accreditation process. With that, they are able to determine community
risk and safety needs and then develop community-specific “Standards of
Cover.” Westover Fire Emergency Services
is routinely called out to augment fire agencies in the surrounding communities.
The chief said
morale is very high around the department.
“They’re
extremely proud of this,” VanGorden said. “They know they’re excellent. They live it every day.”
This isn’t the first national
recognition for the Westover Fire Department The agency has won the Air Force
Reserve Command Fire Department of the Year Award three years in a row from fiscal
year 2011-2013 and most recently, Department of Defense Fire Department
Prevention Program of the year in fiscal year 2014.
“Only a handful of fire departments
in the entire Air Force earned this accreditation, so it’s a special honor for
our firefighters and a tribute to the experience and effort they bring to the
fight,” said Col. Al Lupenski, 439th Airlift Wing commander.
Westover’s fire department will
retain this special accreditation status for five years, but must submit and
have approved annual compliance reports to demonstrate their continued
compliance, according to the CFAI website. At end of the fifth year, the
department will have to seek reaccreditation.