WARRACKNABEAL County Fire Authority group officer Colin Newell has stepped down from his role, but his contributions to the community will continue.
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Mr Newell joined the Warracknabeal CFA in 1981 and commenced his role as a group officer 12 years ago.
He handed the position to Mick Morcom on Monday.
"It was time that I moved on, while I am still capable of helping the next group officer," he said.
"You need to allow other people to have a go. I am certain that Mick will handle it extremely well. He is a capable person."
Mr Newell said he would continue serving the CFA as a communications officer, as well as helping maintain equipment.
He said he cherished his experience as group officer.
"There were a lot of challenges, but a lot of good times in there, too," he said.
"Our fires here are not long-ranging fires, but they are pretty fast and happen fairly quickly. How equipment has evolved over the years has been incredible. We went from using older trucks to using modern trucks now (as well as) helicopters and fire bombers."
Mr Newell will also take on the role of airbase manager at Warracknabeal Aerodrome.
Mr Newell's contributions as the group officer have been largely recognised in the community.
He was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal earlier this year for his work.
Mr Newell said he was concerned about the future of the CFA after new legislation passed last month.
"I will just keep doing what I can, as long as the CFA remains a volunteer-based organisation. With the new legislation going through, I can see country areas missing out badly," he said.
"I know a lot of people out there saying if things don't go the right way, they will walk away. You can't afford to have too many people walk away. I can see us not being able to support in the bigger fire situations."
Mr Newell said he was concerned about a decreasing number of volunteer firefighters - with the current crop of volunteers getting older.
"The unfortunate thing is that the younger people aren't into volunteering as much as they were back in my younger days," he said.
"The younger people around go away to universities and there's not much here to come back to."
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