Mark Jessamine, Easton's newest firefighter, has had a busy June.
On June 9, Jessamine graduated from the Allentown Fire Academy. Two days later, he got married. On June 13 he started work full-time as one of Easton's 44 professional firefighters.
Jessamine, 32, and his bride had no time for a honeymoon in the two days between the wedding and the start of Mark's new job. No problem.
“She was OK with it,” Jessamine said. “She knew what she was getting into with me.”
What she got was a local guy dedicated to public service and duty.
Jessamine, a 1997 graduate of , spent four years in the U.S. Marines Corps from 2000-04, including combat duty in Iraq. When he returned home, he worked in private business for a few years, but kept searching for “something that had the same camaraderie as the Marine Corps offered me.”
He took civil service exams for both firefighting and law enforcement, hoping to qualify for a spot in a local fire department or police force.
Then he got the call from Easton FD. Soon after that, Jessamine underwent 18 weeks of intense training at Allentown Fire Academy.
He and his fellow cadets were drilled in basic firefighting technique; they also learned how to operate fire engines and tankers safely and received training in HazMat, water rescue, vehicle rescue, elevator rescue and other special-circumstance responses. On top of that, by the time they left the academy all the recruits were certified as EMTs.
“It was grueling,” Jessamine said simply.
Last week the rookie firefighter got to work, under the watchful eye of his more experienced comrades. “They are all good guys,” Jessamine said. “They have taken me under their wing.”
Last week was slow in terms of fires and emergency responses---at least for a department that responds to 1,800 calls per year, according to Easton Fire Chief John Bast.
That was just fine with Jessamine and the other firefighters. “They are calling me a white cloud,” he said.
Jessamine knows tougher times and tougher tests are coming. One lesson he learned at the fire academy stuck with him, he said. “When people see us, it's the worst day of their life.”