Mark Eales became chief fire officer of the brigade in May, taking over from Roger O’Leary who first joined the brigade in 1979 and became chief 21 years ago.
CFO Eales has been a station officer at the brigade for 26 years.
He said there was an application process for his new role and he was the chosen candidate.
He said there were some learning curves moving into the job but he was now settling in nicely.
"I’m really enjoying it," he said.
"It’s a great challenge and I’m proud to be leading the brigade."
He had to get used to different jobs as chief, such as health and safety, running the brigade and less of the "hands on the tools" kind of thing.
He said he had a good deputy in Lindsay Whyte and group manager Justin Wafer, in Dunedin, had also been supporting him in the transition.
When asked if there were any specific moments that stood out to him he said the brigade just got in and did its job.
‘I’m sure I could say for our whole brigade we’re proud to serve our community."
One standout was the lifelong friendships you made, he said.
Mr O’Leary said he was not sure if he would stay at the fire brigade but his successor said the 65-year-old was still volunteering.
After 21 years as chief fire officer, he thought it was time someone else became chief and he now had more time to spend with his new granddaughter and watch rugby — "as you do".
He said the years "just flicked by, really".
His favourite part of being with the brigade was seeing the young people come through and seeing their enthusiasm.
The Tapanui brigade now had three women firefighters and were one of the first to have a female, he said.
One of the three, Sue Wink, was four years away from 25 years with the group.
Twenty-five years with the brigade was honoured with a gold star, which Mr O’Leary and Mr Eales had earned.
Mr O’Leary was due for a double gold star soon if he kept it up, he said.
