MECHANIC FALLS — She’s the rescue chief; he’s a lieutenant in the fire department. They live, handily enough, just a few doors down from the fire station.

“It’s a great department to work for, a bunch of great people,” said Tom Casey, relaxed behind a table in the station quarters.

“Be careful what you say,” teased Jen Casey.

“Because you outrank me?”

The Caseys have been together since a blind date in high school almost 20 years ago. She attended Leavitt Area High School in Turner; he’s from Edward Little in Auburn.

Shortly after settling in town in 1996, Tom joined the fire department, inspired in part by the comings and goings at the station and by his father-in-law, Richard Mecervier.

Jen’s mother and father worked on the Greene fire and rescue when she was growing up.

“It’s in my blood,” she said. When there was no one to watch the kids, she’d go on calls. “Wrap us up in a blanket, throw us in the truck and away we went.”

By day, Tom works at Mid-Maine Waste in Auburn. Jen’s a medical assistant in Norway.

“I came out here, and I hung out here during the ice storm,” she said. “I said, you know what, I can do this.”

She joined the rescue in 1998 and became chief in 2000. The fire and rescue units respond to a lot of the same calls. The couple keeps a pager in their bedroom and scanner in the kitchen. It’s nice, Tom said, to have someone else encouraging you to head out the door for those 3 a.m. calls — and head out the door with you.

They know of two other husband-and-wife fire and rescue couples, one in Otisfield and another in Minot.

“It makes me feel more comfortable knowing where he is. If there’s a fire, OK, there he is,” Jen said.

He likes the idea of keeping her safe, and knowing, if he ever got hurt, “It’s comforting knowing . . . the person taking care of you, what their skills are.”

Each can see keeping it up for a long time. For fun they camp in Poland, but their second jobs are never very far away.

“If there’s a call, we can still come home,” Jen said. “There’s a pager in the camper.”

Know someone everyone knows? We’re always looking for ideas. Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.