Bedford Welcomes Two New Firefighters

The Fire Department is getting closer to full strength with the arrival of two new personnel this month.

Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel Hansen joined the department about three weeks ago, and a week later Firefighter Gavin Heffernan, a 2016 Bedford High School graduate, came on board.

There are still several vacancies, Fire Chief David Grunes said, and “we have another candidate going through the background check and pre-employment screening process.”

Departmental attrition is a challenge throughout the region, Grunes said. “We are no longer interviewing candidates – our candidates are interviewing us. We recognize that recruiting is a challenge for everybody.”

He emphasized, “Paramedics are at a premium throughout the state, and we are actively recruiting through the civil service process to fill the additional positions.”

Hansen, a graduate of Lunenburg High School, earned an undergraduate degree in kinesiology at Louisiana State University. “A lot of my family worked in health care, and that was something I knew I was going to do,” he said in an interview at the fire station Tuesday.

After working for MedStar Ambulance and Boston Emergency Medical Services for several years, Hansen enrolled in the National Medical Education and Training Center (NMETC) paramedic school in West Bridgewater, finishing last March.

Heffernan earned a fire science degree from Middlesex Community College and worked for Cataldo Ambulance in Chelsea and Revere for more than a year. Then he joined the Sherborn Fire Department ambulance crew part-time, “trying to get more involved in the fire department side of things,” he said Tuesday.

In January Heffernan is scheduled to begin the nine-month NMETC paramedic training while continuing as a Bedford firefighter. “We’re glad to recruit Bedford residents who have not had the opportunity to become paramedics,” Grunes said.

Grunes noted that he is sharing with new personnel a book that traces the history of the Bedford department from 1828.

“The people who work here are amazing. They’ve been very welcoming and kind,” said Hansen.  Heffernan agreed, saying he remembers visiting the fire station on field trips in elementary school.

Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763