MENTONE - After 16 years, Butch Warren is stepping down as the Mentone fire chief.

Though he won't be chief after Dec. 31, he will stay on with the department "making coffee, filling tankers and giving the guys a hard time," he said Wednesday afternoon in a telephone interview.

Warren has been with the fire department for the past 36 years. Come Jan. 1, Mike Yazel will replace him as fire chief.

Warren said he is retiring because he's 60 years old and has had knee and hip replacements. It's time to get "fresh blood" and ideas into the department, he said. He will continue to help out as he can.

"Once firefighting gets in your blood, you can't get it out," said Warren.

All 26 men with the Mentone Fire Department are volunteers. Over the years, Warren said a lot more demand has been put on the volunteers. The department has had more runs and responded to more fatalities over the years, Warren said. Years ago with the department, he said there may have been a fatality every five years, now there's one every couple of years. He attributed the rise in fatal accidents to more people and more people not paying attention to what they are doing. Firefighters also must undergo more mandated training than before, Warren said.

He said some of the highlights over the years of working with the department included equipment upgrades and the new Mentone Community Emergency Services Building. He said the department has good relations with township trustees and town board members. The fire department keeps the officials informed of what the department is doing and justifies any requests for new equipment.

Some day, Warren said, the fire department will move from all volunteer to paid, which is one reason the new MCES was built. The new building has sleeping quarters, showers, a kitchen and a large training room.

The honor of the fire chief job, he said, comes with keeping 26 guys together who don't get paid and who put their lives on the line.

Warren's own family is involved with firefighting. His son Kreg works at the Warsaw Fire Department, while his son Kris will be the Mentone assistant fire chief. His own father and grandfather also were involved in firefighting.

For his retirement as fire chief, Warren said the firefighters gave him a retired chief's badge and a cigarette lighter which is 8 inches high, 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick, and engraved. The lighter is a reference to a myth about Warren, he said. [[In-content Ad]]