McChord AFB Fire Department hits milestone

Published Oct. 14, 2005

MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- The fire department here has become the first fire house in Air Mobility Command and only the sixth department in the Air Force to hold a prestigious international firefighting accreditation.

The McChord AFB Fire Department received the certificate from the International Commission of Fire Accreditation, which entailed a peer assessment of the fire department by civilian and Department of Defense fire chiefs, said Master Sgt. Dave Wilson, 62nd Civil Engineer Squadron deputy fire chief.

To receive the accreditation, fire departments must meet strict guidelines for safety and performance set by the commission, said Sergeant Wilson. To ensure the standard is met, three civilian and one DOD fire chief from the Navy, inspected the McChord Fire Department. By having the inspectors come from outside the Air Force, it makes the peer assessment more credible.

A lot of people are intimidated by the process, said Sergeant Wilson. The standard is so high that many fire departments arent willing to put themselves through such tough scrutiny.

The McChord Fire Department has now become one of 105 fire departments with the accreditation. There are more than 30,000 departments, said Staff Sergeant Jason Ramirez, 62nd CES. The McChord Fire Department is only the sixth to reach this accreditation in the Air Force.

The accreditation should turn heads for the civilian fire departments in the communities surrounding McChord, said McChord Fire Chief John Harris.

It gives us, in their eyes, a credibility that we matched up with the civilian fire chiefs looking at us, he said. The chiefs that conducted the inspection were from large fire department districts around the United States.

The inspectors commented that it was the best department they had seen, said Mr. Harris.

We did it without any findings, said Mr. Harris. They found nothing wrong in the way our department is managed and the way it is run. Im extremely proud of everyone in the department because it was a team effort. They have so much on their plate each workday to take on this was a monumental undertaking.