Training Division
Meet John Shafer, Division Chief of Training
John Shafer is a 23-year veteran of the fire service and is currently Chief of Training & Safety at the Washington Township Avon Fire Department. John is a recognized instructor who has traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada delivering specialized training programs on Building Construction, Fireground Search, Fire Behavior, Firefighter Safety, and the Close the Door initiative. He has taught nationally at FDIC, Firehouse World, and Firehouse Expo.
John is currently a Technical Advisor for the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) Fire Safety Public Education Research Group and has been a part of several recent UL fire research studies; the latest one being Attic Fire Research. He also served for 2 years as an advisor and safety officer for the Kill the Flashover Fire Research Group in South Carolina.
Along with IDHS staff and Governor Mitch Daniels, John was instrumental in the development and implementation of the statewide District Training System. Because of this work, he was the first hired Regional Fire Training Coordinator for District 7, where he served in that role for 10 years. In addition to his work with District 7, he served a year as the President of the Indiana Fire Instructors Association (IFIA).
John strives to bring advanced training and new technologies to the Washington Township Avon Fire Department; keeping an open mind when learning about new advancements and discoveries while respecting the historic past of the fire service. John is passionate about sharing his findings with others and one of the ways he does this is through social media. John manages several fire service training pages and is also the founder and editor of greenmaltese.com and is co-owner of firetrainingtoolbox.com.
John has not only authored fire service training material on-line, but also wrote a chapter titled Search for Suburban Fire Tactics (Pennwell Books) and was a Technical Reviewer and Contributor for the following fire service textbooks: Evidence-Based Practices for Strategic and Tactical Firefighting (Jones & Bartlett), Principles of Fire Behavior and Combustion, 4th edition (Jones & Bartlett), and Brannigan’s Building Construction for the Fire Service, 5th edition (Jones & Bartlett.)
The fire department has a staff of 57 firefighters/EMTs. They are divided between three shifts: A, B, and C. In 2014, every firefighter received over 84 hours of fire training. Firefighters receive daily on shift training for basic firefighting skills. They participate in group training on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The department is responsible for the only Hazardous Material team in the county. We are proud of the fact that 56 of our members are Hazardous Material Technicians. Because of our knowledge and equipment, we assist all other fire departments in the county for their Haz-mat needs.
The Division of Training is responsible for delivering high quality education to all members of the Washington Township/ Avon Fire Department in a variety of disciplines that include:
Auto Extrication
The Division of Training also works to keep the department compliant with requirements and standards to keep the crews safe.
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Washington Township Avon Fire Department
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