Locals Chris Barnes and sparky Brenden Knowles joined the 20-strong team in late 2021, replacing long-time firefighters Rod Hall and Wendy Maher.

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Mr Barnes has been trying to get on the crew for a number of years, and Mr Knowles said it was a his long-held dream to join the brigade.

While Mr Barnes admits he's a little gung-ho, his heart is in the right place - "I just like helping people".

He said his pager is never far from him and he's always eager to jump on the truck and pitch in.

"I like meeting new people. It's a good crew to be with. I just love being on-call, waiting, waiting, waiting ... I just being able to be ready to assist," he said.

Mr Barnes said he did a lot of preparation for the role with friend and fellow firie Daniel Poss, but he still wasn't prepared for just how much Fire and Rescue does.

"It's more than what I expected it to be. Fire and Rescue do a lot more than what people think," Mr Barnes said.

He said his favourite part of the phase one and phase two training last year was trying to navigate a 'house' filled with smoke in complete darkness and rescue mannequins from the various rooms.

"I loved it. I'd do it again tomorrow."

Mr Barnes first call-out was a car fire out of town and he said veteran firie David Moses told him to "slow down".

"I was so keen. Too keen," Mr Barnes said.

"I'm not afraid. I'll have a go at whatever comes. I'm not one for backing away."

But he said despite his instincts to go, go, go, he knows safety is paramount in his role and "you never stop learning".

Fellow newcomer Mr Knowles takes the opposite approach to Mr Barnes, and said he tends to "hold back a little bit, but you always do want to get in there and do more".

"From the safety aspect, the rules are there for a reason. If the higher ranking officer says no, that's a no," Mr Knowles said.

"When you're on scene, your training, everything, just kicks in. You remember what your trainers taught you and all of that ... it's organised chaos. But if you stick to what you've been told and then remain as calm as you can, and work with your team members, it's alright."

Mr Knowles said like Mr Barnes, he wanted to do his bit in the local community, and step back a bit from his trade.

"It's something I've always wanted to do, like a dream job," he said.

The sparky said his wife and two boys were on board with his new role and the team at FRNSW were "like a big family".

"The crew we've got at the station there are really good and easy to get along with," Mr Knowles said.

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