ATHOL – Owen Anderholm, the newest member of the Athol Fire Department, recently completed the 50-day training program at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Springfield.

State Fire Marshall Jon Davine announced the graduation of Anderholm and 16 other firefighters from around the state during a ceremony on June 24.

“Massachusetts firefighters are on the front lines, protecting their communities every day, and today’s graduates are needed now more than ever,” said Davine in the announcement. “The hundreds of hours of foundational training they’ve received will provide them with the physical, mental and technical skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely.”

The graduating firefighters of Class #S37 represent the departments of Amherst, Athol, Auburn, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Northampton, Seekonk, West Springfield and Westfield. They were presented with certificates of completion by Deputy State Fire Marshal Maribel Fournier.

According to a release from the state Department of Public Safety and Security, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack in order to graduate.

‘The best of both worlds’

Anderholm, 23, is a native of Orange and graduated from Mahar Regional High School in 2019. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army, serving for four years.

“Ever since I was a kid,” Anderholm told the Athol Daily News, “first responders have always been something that I’ve gravitated toward. For the longest time, I wanted to be in law enforcement. But then, out of high school, I joined the Army, and I was a combat medic. So, I pursued the more medical side of the first responder world.”

Anderholm added that his grandmother’s career as a volunteer EMT in the ‘80s and ‘90s was particularly inspirational for him.

“That was also a huge driving force for me,” he said.

After mustering out of the service, said Anderholm, “I started looking at my options and the more research I did, the more I looked into the fire service, and it just seemed right for me, because helping people was always something I gravitated toward; it was the best of both worlds. So, I ended up here.”

Because of the Athol Fire Department’s requirement that all career firefighters to attend the fire academy, Anderholm enrolled in April after spending the first several months of his employment solely doing EMS work.

“It was a lot of fun. I learned way more than I expected to. It was very challenging in all the right ways,” Anderholm said of the academy. “I’m glad that they challenged us as much as they did, because it’s good to be challenged during training and really build those skills while you’re there, versus being less trained or less challenged during training and then falling short when it comes time to work.”

Last Wednesday, Anderholm had his first opportunity to put his training to use when a shed caught fire.

“I got to… learn from my colleagues and from my deputy chief and chief and officers on scene,” Anderholm said. “I got to ask a lot of questions, which was super helpful, and they’re all very supportive and awesome leaders and great to learn from.”

Expanding the department

Athol Fire Chief Joseph Guarnera said Anderholm joined the department after passing the entry exam last year.

“We’re very happy to have him,” he said. “He’s a bright young gentleman – a local kid, a military veteran – and we’re happy to have him on board. He’s a hard worker and did really well at the academy. We look forward to him going to medic school in the fall.”

Guarnera said he’s looking forward to hiring four new firefighters now that the new fiscal year has begun. The additional staff was made possible by the passage of a $286,000 Proposition 2½ override in April, which allowed for the hiring of three additional firefighters. The funding for an additional firefighter was included in the municipal budget, approved at the June 10 Annual Town Meeting.

“Once the budget was confirmed we started our master plan for the process of hiring more people,” said Guarnera. “The openings have been advertised on Indeed, on our website, and advertised at several different colleges that have medic programs, fire science programs, and we’re going to advertise until the 12th of July. Once we get the responses, we’ll go forward and have another test. And from there, whoever passes the test, we’ll do oral interviews at the (Fire Sole Assessment Center), do background checks, and hopefully get some people on board before September. That’s our goal.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.

Athol Daily News Intern Ada Denenfeld Kelly contributed to this report.