It was 1985, and Mr Russell was working in a bank in Shepparton.

“I joined the fire brigade there as a volunteer, as I lived next door to one of the members,” he said.

“He encouraged me to go along.”

Mr Russell’s career with the Country Fire Authority started the following year.

In 1988 he was appointed a level two fire officer in District 7.

After a three-month secondment in District 17 starting in May 1996, Mr Russell became area training manager.

In November 1998, he was appointed District 17’s operation’s manager – the role he will farewell on Friday.

Mr Russell said the people he had worked with had given him the greatest joy in his career.

“The CFA has been and will always be a people organisation,” he said.

“You deal with some terrific people, both staff and volunteers.”

Mr Russell said a number of people had influenced his career and fostered his passion for helping his community.

“I joined when I was 28, and there was a whole lot of senior staff around at the time such as the chief officer Brian Potter,” he said.

“Many of my bosses over the years have all been great people and really down to earth. You pick out all the good bits of what you see them do, and you try to mould that into yourself.”

Mr Russell said changes to the way the authority operated – including technological advancements – were among the highlights of his time in the fire service.

“We’ve gone from the old days of typewriters, papers and letters to emails and the like, and that’s been a real bonus that you can communicate really quickly,” he said.

Mr Russell said modern weather products had also changed the authority’s operations immensely.

“I remember as a junior officer having to go out to the backyard of the district headquarters and take the temperature, wind speed and humidity, and transmit that over the radio to head office,” he said.

“That was the only way we communicated in those days.

“Now you can just look at a computer screen and tell what the weather is all over Australia instantly, so it’s really changed the way we do business.

“With the new technology these days we can actually do fire modelling. With a computer program you put the point of origin in, the temperature and weather data, and you get a print-out of where you expect that fire to travel to.

“So that helps with the planning of extinguishing that fire, and it helps with the advice to the community as to who could be impacted and when. There’s a whole stack of things like that that really do make it a lot easier for us.”

His line of work means Mr Russell has faced many challenging circumstances in his career, from being on the frontline for house fires, to dealing with the trauma of bushfires, floods and road incidents.

He said these types of events were undoubtedly the hardest part of his job, and staying focused on his role in those moments was crucial to avoid becoming emotionally connected.

“It’s easier to say, but you need to not take the problem on in the first place,” he said.

“I’ve been to many a house fire where the mother and children are standing on the nature strip as their house is burning down.

“What you can do is arrange help for them, but you can’t take it on as a problem of your own, because otherwise you get too close and it does affect you.

“The other thing we have is a peer support program, where we have a number of trained people who come and talk to you and work your way through that.

“They’re not counsellors, but fellow firefighters who are trained in that type of aspect to help you through those difficult situations.

“There’s a lot of trauma and things that go on, but you just need to put those out of your mind as best you can.”

Mr Russell hopes he is remembered by his colleagues as someone who was approachable, and for his work fostering relationships between emergency service agencies.

“We all rely on each other totally, so I would like to think I was remembered for promoting those relationships amongst all of the agencies, and indeed across all of our volunteer people as well,” he said.

“It’s something that, if you don’t do it well, things can fall apart. You need to maintain those relationships as best you possibly can.”

With retirement just a day away, Mr Russell is looking forward to devoting more time to recreational passions including fishing and shooting.

He is a Natimuk Field and Game Club life member, and former club president.

He is also the Blue Ribbon Foundation Horsham Branch vice-president, and helps raise money for Wimmera Base Hospital’s emergency department.

Family time is also high on Mr Russell’s agenda.

“I’ve also got some jobs to do at home, I’ve got a new grandson in Melbourne who is three months old who I’ve only seen a couple of times, and I have a daughter getting married in January, so there’s a whole stack of things,” he said.

Craig Brittain will start as Mr Russell’s replacement on Monday.

Colleagues and community members will farewell Mr Russell at a function in Horsham on Friday night.