In a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Rowan University Board of Trustees approved the funding of additional police officers and firefighters for the town of Glassboro.

The Glassboro Fire Department, like many other departments in the area, is run by both full-time staff and volunteers. As they do have a handful of volunteers, in this day in age, Fire Chief Steve Smith says it’s harder to find enough people to help the department deal with the influx of people moving to the area.

“We started with many volunteers, however now people are working multiple jobs, or they are in school and just don’t have the time,” Smith said. “Rowan has grown rapidly, and we are handling around 1,200-1,300 calls a year while providing mutual aid for surrounding towns.”

Glassboro Fire and Police Departments handle approximately nine square miles of response area. Glassboro Police are staffed every single day with officers ready to respond. Glassboro Fire Department always has three firefighters on call and working. However, with Rowan starting to become more popular and well-known, they have had to add more officers, especially on the weekends.

Captain John Gresko has worked for the Glassboro Fire Department for almost 15 years.

“We work 24 hours on shift and have three days off after. It’s a great schedule for me with my kids, and I am able to work another job in my spare time,” Gresko said. “When I started, Rowan was here, but not as close to as big as it is now.”

With the class of 2028 being Rowan’s largest freshman class ever, Gresko says he only sees the university growing even more in the future.

“I can only imagine what Rowan will be like in 10 years, with how many students they have now, all the new buildings they are adding, only time will tell,” Gresko said.

Like the police, Rowan noticed a drastic impact of calls for the fire department and funded a new fireman to help them support the calls they had to handle.

“I thank Rowan for thinking of us, providing us with a new employee, and we plan on hiring many more in the future,” Smith said.

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