Mr Couper (52) has been appointed Oamaru's chief fire officer, replacing Gary Gibson who retired in February. He is only the 11th fire chief since the brigade was established in 1879.
Coincidentally, it was Mr Gibson who encouraged Mr Couper to join the Duntroon fire brigade three decades ago.
At the time, Mr Couper was working for the Ministry of Works and it was a good opportunity to meet some locals and integrate into the community.
After five years at Duntroon, he became involved with the Oamaru brigade, which was "significantly different" in that it received more than 200 calls a year, compared with 12 or 15.
Mr Couper, who is also the Waitaki District Council's principal rural fire officer, said he was fortunate to have "good guys" behind him on both sides.
He did not see it as a problem having the two roles; rather, it was a matter of deciding at the time which role he would be taking and discussing it with those on-site.
There were big differences between fighting rural and urban fires, and each had its own challenges. The end result was still endeavouring to put out a fire with minimal damage and no injury, he said.
The Oamaru brigade was in good heart and had a good team. New volunteers were always needed and it was difficult to recruit, young people having so many other things they could do.
It was also a big commitment and it was heavily reliant on employers allowing employees to leave to attend call-outs.
Mr Couper said his long involvement had been tough on his wife, Heather, who had often been left at the supermarket without a car. The couple tended to travel now in separate cars "just about everywhere we go".
Fires that stood out for him included the fire at the The Warehouse in Thames St in 1995, which destroyed the store; the fire at the Alliance Group's Pukeuri freezing works in 2006; and also house fires, "knowing how devastating they can be".
Firemen always hoped they were able to help and to save a bad situation from getting any worse.
House fires had such a long-term effect on people and, if you were able to make a good save, you felt good about it.
"You've done something to help somebody else," he said.
The occasional times when victims of fires or accidents came back to say thank you was a "really big buzz", Mr Couper said.
