Despite his experience, the retained senior firefighter said there was still room for improvement.

“You never stop learning,” Mr Turner said. “Every night, every call is different, it's just working out how to tackle it better and what else you can do to help.”

The valued Gunnedah Fire and Rescue member ticked over 25 years service earlier this month.

While some days were tough, the good generally outweighed the bad.

“Sometimes I could leave tomorrow, other times I wouldn't give it up for the world,” he said. “But I still I get a buzz every time the pager goes off.”

He grinned recalling a mishap en route one of his first call-outs as a rookie firefighter. “I threw the door open, went to jump out of the truck and my feet didn't hit the ground. I had put my belt through my seat belt of the truck and I was dangling outside the door,” he said.

He had faced major incidents like the BestCare Foods factory explosion in 2003 and plenty of smaller jobs, like rescuing kittens from drains (yes, it does happen). But no matter the task, being able to help someone in need was his big motivation.

“I just love doing that,” he said. “I'm always putting other people before me, I probably do that a bit too much sometimes, but I just love it.”

The strong sense of camaraderie among station members was a bonus.

“We’ve had different inspectors visit here and they say this is one of the most enjoyable stations to come to with the group of fellas we have,” he said. “We've all got different expertise in certain areas, whether it's a car, a house, or electrical, what ever it is, someone knows something and we work as a team to solve it.”

Mr Turner said today’s firefighter needs to be more adaptable than ever as the days of fire-only related jobs, were long gone.

“Years ago you would turn up to a fire, put water on the hot stuff and you went home,” he said. “But things now have totally changed what your role is in the fire brigade.”