Wadesboro Fire Chief Marc Sessions was recently given the highest fire education award in the state.
Sessions received the 2014 Award of Excellence at the annual North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education conference.
In a release, Wadesboro Town Manager Alex Sewell said Sessions deserves the award. “From smoke alarm programs to teaching fire safety education classes to children, Marc’s passion for keeping our community safe is extraordinary,” he said. “As evidenced by this award, the Wadesboro Fire Department is committed to keeping our community safe — not only through fire response, but through preventative safety education.”
Sessions credited the town’s support for the award. “I feel humbly honored, but it is a direct correlation of the wonderful volunteer firefighters that we have, the town manager, and the town council that sees the importance of education,” he said.
The chief said he will continue to focus his fire education and prevention efforts in three areas: homes with children under the age of 5, homes with no working smoke alarms and residents without an evacuation plan, and homes with seniors over the age of 65. The department has given out over 3,000 fire alarms, Sessions estimated.
Nominees from across the state are carefully reviewed, with only one receiving the award. “Nominations are judged on leadership, innovation, uniqueness, effectiveness, impact on safety problem and utilization of resources,” according to the state fire marshal’s website. Eligible nominees have at least 10 years of service and have “made significant contributions to fire and life safety, as well as, made an impact on their community and state.”