Chief Fire Officer John Eaton (59) spent six years at the helm leading 19 people in the volunteer brigade at Outram.
He will officially finish today but will carry on for two weeks until his replacement is confirmed.
Mr Eaton, a farmer and contractor, said he would miss the "camaraderie'' and "looking after locals'' but ever-increasing bureaucracy, including training expectations and health and safety, was becoming more and more frustrating.
"It is becoming more complicated than it used to be.
"Brigades are there for the community and it seems to be getting pulled away.
"The community part seems to be dissolving,'' he said.
It was harder to attract volunteer firefighters now as training took at least a week, out of town, which meant time off from your day job, Mr Eaton said.
He felt he had done it "long enough'' and it was time for someone else to step in.
"There's a lot of really well trained guys behind me that need a go at it.''
A highlight of his time in charge was leading the Outram team in saving a house set alight by a scrub fire on Saddle Hill in October last year.
Mr Eaton's services would not be lost to the community as he was working with Senior Sergeant Al Dickie as part of the newly established Outram Incident Management Team.
Firefighting was certainly "a worthwhile cause to get into'', he said.
