In late 2014, the Massachusetts Call/Volunteer Firefighters Association (MCVFA) had a discussion about the training needs of call/volunteer firefighters. This discussion was the culmination of years of anecdotal evidence that call/volunteer firefighter departments had unmet training needs, as well as experiences with providing analysis and recommendations to the Rowe Fire Department and the Leverett Fire Department. It was determined that the experiences of the Rowe FD and the Leverett FD, along with all of the anecdotal evidence over the years warranted a comprehensive look at the current state of training among call/volunteer firefighters.
Over the next few months the MCVFA developed a survey seeking information about the current levels of training by call/volunteer firefighters, the use of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy (MFA) by call/volunteer firefighters, the in-house training policies and facilities of call/volunteer and combination fire departments and seeking information about the fire chiefs’ needs for their department. The survey that was developed asks 42 questions in regards to what the departments are looking for.