Local & State Headlines

AFD excels on 'pop quiz'

• By contrast, the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department scored 59 percent on the same tests, officials say.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — The Albany Fire Department earned a near perfect score after a recent surprise visit by officials with the agency that mandates and maintains firefighter training in Georgia.

The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council regularly checks up on the departments throughout the state to ensure that Georgia’s stringent safety standards are being met.

On May 8, 39 on-duty personnel were tested over a sampling of the 132 core competencies that state-certified firefighters must know. Of the 117 core competencies tested, Albany firefighters correctly performed 107, or 91.45 percent, state officials said.

“The credit here goes to the suppression people who are working to maintain their training and to keep those core competencies at the level they should be,” AFD Training Chief Ron Rowe said.

By contrast, the fire department for one of the state’s largest cities, the Macon-Bibb County Department, is facing losing it’s state certification after scoring only 59 percent on the tests.

Albany Fire Chief James Carswell said that he credits the diligence of his employees and the desire of officials with the city government and area educational institutions to help further the education of his firefighters with helping make his department one of the best trained in the state.

Recently, Albany Technical College has partnered with the City of Albany to offer fire science degree programs to firefighters.

More than 100 Albany firefighters have enrolled in that program.

“I think that 91 percent shows that our employees take their jobs seriously and is proof that the programs we have here are working,” Carswell said.

The tests required firefighters to perform a variety of life-safety skills that are all required in Georgia to be a state-certified firefighter.

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