John Hawkins followed his brother Alan in 1981 by signing up as an on call firefighter, working out of the Mate Street station.

In one of his earliest jobs, Mr Hawkins and his crew was called to the Mate Street Book Exchange.

A fire had been sparked at the property which, unknown to those called to the building, had been rigged with bombs attached to trip wires.

Multiple crew members were injured when they entered the building and the devices, rigged up to rat traps, were detonated.

Concerns about other devices led to the property being blown up for safety reasons.

"The way the army decided to make sure there was nothing else in it, they blew the roof off," Mr Hawkins recalled yesterday.

"My wife had been at home in bed, pregnant with our child, when she got the news about firefighters being hurt in Albury.

"Three of them got taken to hospital.

"It was one of the very first fires I went to."

Other major incidents Mr Hawkins has attended have seen history go up in flames, in some cases changing the landscape of the town.

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He was on the scene of a fire that destroyed the Hotel Termo and was first on scene of a fire at the Country Comfort Hotel - now Atura - that burnt from the bottom of the building to the top.

Mr Hawkins also rescued a man from the Globe Hotel, allowing him to survive, and was saddened as St Matthew's Church was gutted by fierce flames in 1994 with little that could be done to stop the fire.

"That was a really sad event," he said, recalling pews and beams "glowing red".

"I think most firefighters would tell you they join for the teamwork, for the mates you make in the job and helping the community.

"There are some fun and interesting times, but there are a lot of sad times when you've seen people who have lost their loved ones, lost their houses."

Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Frank Finlay said retained firefighters like Mr Hawkins were vital in the community.

"We're very thankful for his commitment," he said.

"We wouldn't function without on-call firefighters who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

"We must also thank John's wife, Teresa, with pagers waking her up at ungodly hours of the night."

Inspector Finlay said the organisation was keen for new recruits.

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