The Lakeland Fire Department prides itself on the extent and quality of the training it requires of its firefighters to meet multiple local, state, and national standards while staying prepared for whatever emergency situation could prevent itself.
Lakeland Firefighters have resumed their training schedules since COVID and are back in full swing out at our training center. Crews recently ran multi-company NFPA 1410 drills. These drills are the standard on training for emergency scene operations, but they also play a role in maintaining our ISO 1 rating.
The Lakeland Fire Department has evolved into being so much more than just a fire department; more accurately, the department as it is today is an all-hazards response department ready to respond to a wide array of emergency calls. The division is responsible for:
- Training for all Department Personnel
- Oversight of Occupational Health and Safety; including Personal Protective Equipment
- Specialized Training including Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) and Technical Rescue.
- Standards Compliance, including those set forth by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Insurance Services Office (ISO), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and other regulatory agencies
- Hiring and Onboarding of New Firefighters
Additionally, the department’s improvement to an Insurance Services Office classification score to a 1 is a result of the training division’s oversight, with the Training Chief Almskog playing a major role in the review process. The hard work accomplished within this division has the greatest impact on the ISO score. The thousands of training hours performed and the department’s work in exceeding many of the state and national standards is instrumental to the department’s rating.
The training division is essential in ensuring safety for all of the men and women that make up the emergency response personnel. The department’s motto of “Everyone Goes Home” is ensured day in and day out by the training division which consistently trains on the most effective ways of performing fire suppression based on the best available resources and techniques.