Robbie McLachlan retires from Tumbarumba Fire and Rescue NSW

Robbie McLachlan, deputy captain at Tumbarumba Fire and Rescue NSW, will hang up his uniform this Saturday after 50 years of service.

"I signed up when I was a kid, and we lived across the road from the station," he said.

"My brothers joined two years before I did, and they said it was the thing to do.

"I was 19, and now I am 69."

Mr McLachlan said working in a small community like Tumbarumba meant knowing a lot of the people at emergency scenes he attended.

"It is difficult when it's people who are deceased, especially when you know the parents and they don't know about it as the police have to tell them," he said.

"Car accidents are the worst. Once I had to pull a burnt, deceased 25-year-old out of the car."

Mr McLachlan said it was hard dealing with fatalities, and he and the other firefighters would "battle their way" through it.

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He added now there is help readily available for anyone ho might be struggling, a change he wholeheartedly welcomed.

"There have also been huge changes in equipment, we had one small truck, and now we have $1 million worth of gear and two trucks," he said.

"We are the primary rescue, so we do all road and land-based rescue in and around Tumbarumba, that is our home town."

Mr McLachlan encouraged residents to consider how they could do their part to help the community.

"In the country, if you don't stand up then you don't have the service," he said.

"The more, the merrier and the easier it makes the job because it is all teamwork.

"I am getting too old to keep up with them, but I am going to miss it."

Mr McLachlan said he had made terrific friendships throughout the years. He will officially retire on November 2, 50 years and one day after signing up.

"I made it November 2 to make extra sure I completed the 50 years," he said. "I really will miss it."