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Westover Fire Department earns international recognition

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. James Bishop and SrA. Monica Ricci
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  

Westover became the first military or civilian fire department in Massachusetts -- and the first in the Air Force Reserve Command -- to earn the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, 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 Charles VanGorden, Westover fire chief.

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.