The mission of the Attleboro Fire Department Training Division is to meet the evolving needs of our community by delivering high-quality, realistic training that prepares our members with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed when duty calls.
To ensure AFD operates at the highest level of proficiency, the Training Division plays a critical role in maintaining consistent standards across all ranks. The division ensures the department meets or exceeds all applicable requirements set at the federal, state, and local levels.
Training programs are developed through a careful review of current department operations, research into modern fire service best practices, and continual refinement of our in-house curriculum. This process ensures that Attleboro firefighters are equipped not only to face today’s challenges but to stay ahead with tomorrow’s tactics. The Training Division is led by Lt. Dan Murray dmurray@cityofattleboro.us
The type of training we conduct varies based on the occupancy, type of construction, and the project timeline. All our training is scalable. We are flexible and adapt to the timeline of the project to prevent any delay. The AFD has three training options: non-destructive, destructive, and live-fire training.
This type of training ensures that there is no damage to the property. This is the simplest and most-flexible type of training our firefighters perform. This type of training will be coordinated at the AFD Company level. Often, our firefighters will ask building owners/representatives if they can walk through a construction site. Firefighters must understand how a building is constructed in order to understand how it will behave under fire conditions. Other times, firefighters will ask to stretch dry hose in a stairwell/hallway or throw ladders to practice such skills.
This type of training provides realistic training for firefighters in all disciplines. This type of training requires further paperwork mentioned on the website.This type of training allows our firefighters to conduct operations as if it were the real thing. Examples would include practicing fire attack methods, ventilation, forcible entry, search and rescue methods, and firefighter survival techniques. The type of destructive training will be outlined by the AST program representative, in coordination with the building owner.
This type of training provides a controlled, live-fire experience for Recruit Training and Operations members. All live-fire trainings are conducted in compliance with NFPA 1403 requirements, no exceptions. NFPA 1403 strictly limits the type and amounts of fuel used. Additionally, buildings are rarely “burned down”
Live-fire training is only conducted in single-family and multi-family dwellings, as approved by the Fire Chief. There is no more valuable training experience for your AFD firefighters than this. It also provides our citizens an opportunity to see their firefighters in action. We encourage our citizens to come watch, from a safe distance of course. Every effort is made to accommodate those in the community with health concerns. As such, our AST representatives will work closely with these community members to ensure the safety of all.
Ideally, we like to have a building donated for training over several days. Some sites and timelines allow for a longer training cycle, others do not. In the past, some sites have allowed weeks of training, based on the demolition schedule. Training over a weekend often allows the maximum use of the structure by our personnel. It also helps minimize the impact to the local neighborhood.