A Mighty Figure in the Department, Charlotte Fire Deputy Chief Retires
Published on December 06, 2023
By: Kevin Campbell
On any day, Charlotte Fire firefighters answer calls to help our neighbors through what can often be a tense and sometimes tragic situation. For the past 35 years, one man has been a mighty figure on and off the firetruck, and on Dec. 15, Charlotte Fire Deputy Chief Samuel Jones takes his final call for duty.
Jones began his journey with Charlotte Fire in 1989 as a recruit with no experience in the fire service.
“I've always liked trains and fire trucks, but I never saw myself as a firefighter,” Jones said. “When I was eight years old, I had a bad tooth in my mouth. My mother took me to the dentist, and I was a little hyper and rowdy in the dentist's chair. So, to get me to stay still, she promised me a fire truck.”
She bought him a little red fire truck, and Jones couldn’t imagine that a half-century later, he would have over one hundred big red fire trucks at Charlotte Fire.
A native of Bluefield, WV, Jones moved to Charlotte in 1986 and worked as a counselor.
“It was cold with a lot of snow in West Virginia, so me and my wife moved to Charlotte with our first son, Sammy Jr.,” Jones said. “I took a job on a potato chip truck selling potato chips. After that, I went to work in a toy store. A neighbor asked me, 'What do you think about being a firefighter?' And I said, I don't think about it.”
Jones did think about it, so on the final day applications for firefighters closed, he applied for the job.
“2,500 people were applying, and they were only going to hire 18. The good Lord was looking out for me, and I got the job in six months,” he said. “When I got to recruit school, I didn’t have a clue what to expect, and I thought, ‘What have I done?’”
In recruit school, Jones surrounded himself with others with fire service experience.
“I was very fortunate, very blessed. The others took time to take and explain things to me to bring it down to my level, so I could understand it because they were speaking lingo that I didn't understand,” Jones said. “That helped me through recruit school. They helped me to get my start in the fire service.”
Jones started as a firefighter, rose to captain and battalion chief and was promoted by Fire Chief Reginald Johnson to deputy chief in 2018.
Group photo: Deputy Chief Pete Skeris (left), Fire Chief Reginald Johnson (center), and Deputy Chief Samuel Jones (right)
“Chief Jones has tremendous love for the department, retirees, and everyone working to meet the mission of Charlotte Fire,” Johnson said. “Chief Jones has spent over three decades in service to the residents of Charlotte and sets a high bar of excellence for many of us to follow.”
For Jones, Charlotte Fire has been his second family that is out serving the Charlotte community each day.
“Most people go to jobs, but when we just come to work, we just be us. We love being around each other. We spend twenty-four hours with each other,” he said. “Sometimes the people you work with know more than the people you live with because we just open up with each other.”
Jones, like most firefighters, consider himself a humble public servant. However, they are, in fact, heroes for their work to rescue people from burning buildings, pull them from wreckage, and place their own lives at risk to protect their brother and sister firefighters and the public at large.
“We take care of people because that’s just who we are. When we’re called on, we’re coming,” Jones said. “Sometimes we walk out in the morning knowing we'll put our life on the line. But it comes naturally for us to serve.”
“Chief Jones is an excellent public servant, but an even better human being. He truly embraces service before self,” Johnson said. “He has provided steady, caring, and inspiring leadership. He will be missed, but we wish him a blessed, healthy retirement.”
“For 35 years, I woke up in the morning, couldn't wait to go to work, and I've been truly blessed,” Jones said. “I came here to serve. It started as a job. When you talk to people in the fire service, they'll tell you I'll do this job for nothing, and they mean it. But this is what it's about. This is who we are."