By Craig Anderson

REHOBOTH BEACH — Warren Jones wants to be clear — he’s working until June 30.

Once the General Assembly session ends, however, he will no longer officially represent the interests of firefighters statewide regarding governmental affairs .

Mr. Jones, 76, is leaving his executive manager’s position with the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association, a position he’s held for 11 of his 25 years with the organization. He’s spent countless hours working with legislators on fire service-related issues, among other duties.

There’s plenty of life to experience beyond the fire service, however.

“I thought of all the things I’ve wanted to do but have had no time to,” Mr. Jones said. “I still enjoy the job, it had its ups and downs, but it required a lot of time.

“This job is not an eight-hour job and I have made it that way. It’s not a Monday to Friday eight-hour job and I’ve made it that way because the fire service is not an eight-hour job.

“Most in the volunteer fire service are people who either work in shifts, or straight day work. So when they have questions or they need help I made myself available for them at any time.

“You know, it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Sundays or weekends or nighttime, I’m there for them.”

So now, Mr. Jones is taking some time with Rosemary, his spouse of 54 years and future traveling partner. They won’t be going internationally, though.

“People like to travel, you know, away from the United States,” Mr. Jones said. “There’s a lot of great things here.

“ I’ve never been to Key West believe it or not. And I’d like to go to the west. I’ve never been to California, or Oregon, or Washington.

“I’d really like to travel and see those places.”

Mr. Jones isn’t punting the fire service completely. He’ll continue to drive that apparatus vehicle for the Rehoboth Beach Fire Department, and is just a phone call away from assisting any firefighter.

Oh, and Mr. Jones will continue to teach an introductory basic class at the Delaware State Fire School in Dover.

“I teach two particular parts of it,” said Mr. Jones, who has served as an EMS among many roles as a firefighter.

“There’s the introduction to the fire service and I teach a fire behavior which is like chemistry. What is fire? What’s the chemical components? What makes up on fire? How it travels through buildings, etc.”

Also, Mr. Jones said he plans to help the DVFA in administrative duties as needed.

He plans to aid in a recruitment and retention initiative through the General Assembly to draw more would be firefighters to volunteer departments. Among other attempts to draw younger members, the state will provide school tuition reimbursement for those who are a volunteer firefighter.

“Delaware is like all the rest of the volunteer companies in the United States,” he said. “They all have a shortage of people.”

DVFA officials have completed the resume process and will start interviews soon, Mr. Jones said.