Chief Matthew Grafton
25 Central Street
Stoneham, MA 02180-2044
For Immediate Release
Friday, Feb. 15, 2019
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 781-533-9398
Email: [email protected]
Stoneham Fire Chief Graduates From Chief Fire Officer Training Program
STONEHAM — The Stoneham Fire Department is pleased to announce that Chief Matthew Grafton recently completed the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Chief Fire Officer Management Training Program.
On Jan. 31, Chief Grafton and 36 other fire service leaders from across Massachusetts graduated from the 26th Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Chief Fire Officer Management Training Program.
The 14-week program covered a variety of topics considered essential for effective public sector management including: human resource management, ethics, executive leadership and legal issues, governmental and organization structures, information management, customer-focused strategic planning, legal aspects, budgets and public finance, community awareness and public relations and labor relations.
The program helps fire officers improve their ability to lead and manage personnel and the department, to provide skills to understand employees’ needs and problems, to promote personal productivity, to increase the capacity to manage both human and technical resources and to increase inter-agency cooperation.
Chief Grafton has been with the department since 1999. In 2010 he became a lieutenant and a little more than a year later, earned the rank of captain. He took over as chief in 2016 and is a credentialed fire chief by the Massachusetts Fire Commission. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fire science from Salem State University.
The other 36 graduates of the program serve the following fire departments: Ashburnham, Ashland, Athol, Belmont, Braintree, Brookline, Carver, Concord, Dennis, Dudley, Duxbury, Duxbury, Easthampton, Falmouth, Foxborough, Hanover, Harwich, Holyoke, Hull, Leverett, Mansfield, Massport, Melrose, Needham, North Reading, Onset, Raynham, Sharon, Somerville, Sturbridge, Tewksbury, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, Westborough, Wilbraham and Yarmouth.
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