WADESBORO — This Anson County town’s fire chief is retiring on Aug. 1 after 25 years of service.
Marc Sessions began as a junior member of the Anson Rescue Squad at 13 years old and joined the Wadesboro Fire Department at 18.
“I felt the fire service granted me a platform to continue to do more for our citizens,” he said.
Sessions was hired as a telecommunicator/firefighter while obtaining his bachelor of science degree from Wingate College. Eventually, he became the Telecommunicator supervisor for the Town of Wadesboro.
Some years later, he became the fire inspector/fire and life safety educator.
When Chief Jimmy Burns retired, Sessions felt like the time was right to submit an application to become the fire chief/safety director for the town.
“My parents always encouraged us to love God and work tirelessly to continue your individual growth through education,” he said. “I believe a municipal fire chief needs formal education to lead a department today, considering the many factors they face.”
Sessions said he has been blessed to have an opportunity to develop professionally by attending some amazing training programs offered by North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal, National Fire Protection Association, The University of North Carolina School of Government that fostered his leadership style.
“I would encourage the next chief to always work to develop a strong network of peer support to brainstorm ideas or strategies,” he said. “My goal has always been to keep our citizens and firefighters safe while providing top-notch service through financially sound practices to the taxpayer’s.”
When asked about his greatest accomplishment, Sessions said, “It is my hope that the firefighters have recognized that I have strived to make their jobs easier with excellent equipment, training, and facilities while being approachable to any citizen or firefighter.”
He has worked tirelessly to offer free life safety programs to keep our citizens safe, and it is an amazing feeling recognizing that residents have attended and then implemented strategies that have led to lives saved from fire, Sessions said.
He encourages the fire department to rally around the new chief, Sessions said
He also said WFD volunteers are “some of the greatest people in the world, and they work tirelessly attending training to become better.”
He encourages them to continue to push for a new firefighting equipment that is needed to provide even better service to the citizens and community, and continue to push hard for more volunteers and staffing to meet the daily demands.
“Every firefighter should continue to recognize the incredible dangers they face daily from fires, accidents, and the various contaminants that could be life changing or fatal,” Sessions said. “The fire chief and elected officials need to find ways to increase the career staff to further accomplish the fire department’s mission.”
As for what’s next for Chief Sessions, he said he is blessed to have several opportunities, but hasn’t made any definitive decisions on the next chapter. He trusts that God will lead him to a new endeavor while continuing to reveal what his plans are for him and his family.
“It has been a pleasure to serve our citizens and firefighters, and our community is blessed with some incredibly talented and compassionate people,” Sessions said.
A “dictionary does not have words that can express my thanks” to his wife and children who have been a part of his journey, Session said.
“The families of firefighters sacrifice so much, and it is my hope that our community always recognizes the calling of a firefighter,” Sessions said. “May God continue to bless the WFD with the tools and knowledge to constantly be better for the citizens.”