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Burlington Firefighter Graduates from Metro Fire Recruit Training Academy

Chief Andrew Connerty and the Burlington Fire Department are pleased to announce that Firefighter Patrick O’Halloran recently graduated from the Metro Fire Recruit Training Academy.

O’Halloran graduated from the Metro Fire Recruit Training Academy on Friday, May 12. The Academy was run at Boston Fire Department’s training academy on Moon Island in Boston Harbor.

During the 11-week program, O’Halloran trained with 31 new recruits from various departments in the region to learn firefighting techniques, operations, and safety methods.

The facility at Moon Island allows recruits to train in 16 live burn rooms, three elevator training simulators, and an adjustable sensory deprivation maze and various roof hatches. Trainees participate in ladder and rope-work instruction, including pompier ladder training and rappelling exercises, and learn how to operate in a zero-visibility environment in the facility’s “smokehouse.” The facility also allows for training in the drill yard, concrete burn pad (to simulate car fires), and a structural pad for a flashover simulator. Trainees also learn to drive the fire apparatus.

“I would like to congratulate Firefighter O’Halloran on his completion of the Metro Fire Recruit Training Academy, and welcome him to the Burlington Fire Department,” said Chief Connerty. “By graduating the Academy he has shown that hard work can overcome the toughest obstacle, in both his career and life.”