When Swansboro Fire Chief Mark Tessing retires in July, he’ll leave behind a busier department than when he joined.
The town has undergone substantial growth in recent years, a surge in population that has seen the Swansboro Fire Department calls doubled.
“We were doing 250 calls (per year) when I got here, now it’s over 500,” Tessing said.
The nature of the department’s ability to answer calls has also changed during Tessing’s tenure. When he was hired as chief in 2016 – after serving the department for 12 years – paid staff were only on duty from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
By 2017, paid coverage went 24/7 with four paid personnel on duty during the daytime and two on duty through the night. It was estimated then that it would shorten the department’s night-time response time from 7 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
In order to boost volunteerism for the department, the town constructed sleeping quarters at the Public Safety Facility, home of the town’s police and fire departments.