Saugus fire chief earns state accreditation

SAUGUS – Saugus Fire Chief James Blanchard may be winding down his career this summer, but it hasn?t stopped him from picking up one last achievement before he retires in June.Blanchard, a 39-year veteran of the Saugus Fire Department, recently earned his accreditation by the Massachusetts Fire Service Commission.?The Department of Fire Services sets this bar, and in order for you to reach that bar and get accreditation, you have to meet all of this criteria, and it?s probably 25 pages of stuff you need to have,” said Blanchard. “I sat down and went through it and said, ?I have all of this stuff.? But I still didn?t know if I wanted to apply for it, because then you have to go before the board, and they go over the whole thing and verify every single thing.”Commission Chairman and Everett Fire Chief David Butler said in a press release the accreditation is based on education, training and experience?It establishes benchmarks for training in fire and emergency service management so that chiefs may be better prepared to serve their department and their community,” said Butler in the release.Blanchard said he sent in his application around three months ago, but never expected to hear back from the commission.?It?s just a crazy thing that I did,” said Blanchard. “This late in my career, I had never looked into accreditation.”Blanchard said he?s just the 92nd fire chief to attain accreditation out of more than 350 departments in Massachusetts, and noted the prestigious honor is not about money.?It doesn?t put a nickel in your pocket,” said Blanchard. “What it does is it gives you the status of being a certified, credentialed fire chief in a very, very competitive market in the fire service industry. Not a lot of fire chiefs can reach that.”Blanchard said the Fire Services Commission looks at your entire career as chief, from how many certifications and classes a chief completes to how many fire trucks or grants he can get for his department.?The biggest thing was, what you?ve done professionally in education and certification,” said Blanchard. “I have a lot of state and national certifications that were big in leading to this that I took for granted my whole career and you have to do it all on your own time. I just thought it was something that would be good for me to have. I never thought in a million years it would be put into play for something like this.”But while having a long career as a firefighter helps with accreditation, Blanchard said it?s about what you put into the job that counts.?It?s hard to get all this stuff,” said Blanchard. “It isn?t so much longevity ? guys spend 45 years on the job and don?t have a single certification. You have to put yourself out to do it. It?s hard work and some of it is not fun. It was always my idea to get this knowledge and training to bring back to the department and make it better. I always try to share with anyone everything I ever learned.”Blanchard is scheduled to retire in June and he said people have been asking him why he went through accreditation so close to retirement.For Blanchard, accreditation is about helping the town and his fellow firefighters.?People know that you go over and above what you need to do,” said Blanchard. “I always try to make myself better because you never know what?s around the corner.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].