When Jon Mann was 12 or 14, his father James used to work long hours as the chief of the Ledyard Fire Department and would bring Jon to the station, where he would spend his time washing wheels and polishing the lug nuts on the company’s trucks.

“He started getting interested and I wasn’t sure where he was going to go with it, but eventually the bug bit him and he started volunteering,” James Mann said.

The bug aside, Mann certainly had role models and encouragement in addition to his father. His mother Diana Mann, a Ledyard native, is one of the department’s fire police and serves on the company’s board of directors. James Mann took a job as the town’s fire marshal after serving as the chief from 2006-2008.

Now, with the departure of Chief John Doucette in January for a job with the Department of Homeland Security, Jon is stepping into his father’s footsteps — he became acting chief in January and was elected permanent chief on Jan. 25 by a vote of the company’s membership.

“I was shocked I moved up the ranks this quick. It was always my dream to fill my father’s shoes and become chief but I never expected it would be this soon,” Jon Mann said.

At only 23, Mann is one of the younger firefighters in the 45-strong Ledyard Fire Company.

Before he could become a firefighter, Mann joined one of the first classes of fire cadets – kids that were too young to go out and fight fires but could learn the fundamentals of firefighting. Cadets eventually get to ride on trucks and go to calls. Mann spent three years taking classes and learning the basics of becoming a firefighter before becoming a full firefighter at 18.

James Mann said his son’s ability to instruct others at the company “got him to where he was” today. Jon used that ability in his role as the training officer for the company, and he said that experience informed him that it is important to ensure younger volunteers are properly trained and prepared before they are exposed to challenging calls, like serious motor vehicle accidents.

“There’s no way you can properly prepare someone to see what we see half the time. That’s always one of the biggest struggles because we have … a lot of the younger guys just turning 18 we don’t want to expose them to the really nasty calls,” Mann said.

The company is made up primarily of volunteers and the chief is also a volunteer position – but both father and son can attest to the time that the position takes to do well.

James Mann pointed to the budget requests, keeping the department in compliance with labor and safety regulations, as well as the leadership it takes to guide the department, as the primary responsibilities. And in the few short weeks Jon Mann has been on the job, he’s been adjusting to those responsibilities with some long hours.

“I do about 60 hours at Electric Boat plus close to 40 hours on top of it,” Mann said of the time he spends working for the fire department, either on administrative tasks or supporting his staff. Sometimes he sleeps in the station.

“I’m up here almost every night,” he said. “As much as I can not only to help myself but to help the community and the members, I always enjoy helping other people.”

n.lynch@theday.com

Twitter: @_nathanlynch