MEXICO - Richard Jones was out of high school for only a year when he discovered he loved firefighting.

The Mexico Fire Department responded to a blaze on Whitman Street in 1975 and Jones decided to help because they were short-handed.

"That's what got me going," he said Thursday afternoon as he discussed his 33 years with the department.

Jones, a Mexico native and graduate of Mexico High School in 1974, and 12-year deputy chief of the department, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Maine State Federation of Firefighters convention in Boothbay Harbor last weekend. Until this year, that same award was known as the Firefighter of the Year.

"I didn't know it was me until they said my name," said the 52-year-old who has been or is an officer in virtually every firefighting-related organization in the area and some in the state.

Fellow Firefighter of the Year for 2006, Ray Broomhall, who is also on the Mexico Fire Department, nominated him. That nomination was backed up by a sheaf of letters from fire chiefs, police chiefs and town officials.

"I was pretty much speechless," Jones said. "I wouldn't be doing what I do unless I loved it."

And what he loves is helping people.

"I want to give back to the community," he said.

His father, Cecil, was also a firefighter, but it was that fire on Whitman Street that prompted him to spend virtually all of his nonworking time volunteering in some way for the Fire Department.

"When someone is first involved in a fire department, it's the excitement of fighting the fire," he said. "But now I also enjoy going to seminars and trainings, and meeting a lot of people from other departments. We've made friends."

Jones is the fire prevention officer who goes into schools and day cares to talk about fire safety. Among the offices he holds are president of the Northern Oxford Mutual Aid Association, vice president of FRANDFORD, a firefighting training organization for Franklin, Oxford and Androscoggin counties, and vice president for Maine State Federation of Firefighters from Oxford County.

He also is thankful for an understanding wife and family.

"They are very supportive. I've missed a lot of birthdays and suppers," he said.

His wife, Diana, who works as an educational technician for SAD 21 in Dixfield and as a certified nursing assistant at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, said her husband's fire department involvement is like a bigger extended family.

She's proud of him. So are his grown children - Richard Jr., Tabitha, Heather and Megan.

When he's not training or fighting fires, Jones holds down a full-time job with Bancroft Construction. And during the little bit of time he's not doing either, he enjoys camping.

The wood and brass plaque that honors Jones for his outstanding community involvement will be mounted somewhere in his home.

"It was very unexpected and very much appreciated," he said.