Hailing from Sydney’s northern beaches, Shane Austin says he was looking for a sea-change but also wanted to live in a rural setting so Taree offered the best of both worlds.

After his parents moved to Port Macquarie last year, Shane spent some time in the region.

“I fell in love with the place. It had everything I was looking for.”

Shane’s early career began as a scuba diver for Oceanworld in Manly. After a number of years he progressed to marine mammal trainer and subsequently worked with seals at both Taronga Zoo and Sydney Aquarium.

After completing his scuba instructor’s certificate and marine master class 5 he moved to the Great Barrier Reef to skipper boats – one of which was owned by a firefighter, whose enthusiasm for the profession was infectious.

Shane spent four years in the rural fire service before applying for and being accepted into NSW Fire and Rescue in 1998.

Since then his career has taken him not only to the Australian snowfields but to North America.

He spent a year on exchange in Canada with the North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service which involved a very steep learning curve as soon as he arrived.

Canadian firies are also first responder paramedics and Shane found he was undergoing training at the station and having to implement it soon after in emergency situations.

Last year Shane spent a month with several other Aussie colleagues on the US east coast, kayaking between Washington and New York to raise money for the National Fallen Firefighters Association.

After September 11, 2001, traumatised New York firefighters were sent to Australia for some “R and R” and strong friendships were forged with their Sydney counterparts, Shane among them. The paddlers arrived in New York City for the opening of the World Police and Fire Games and the 10 year 9/11 memorial.

Shane won’t officially take up his new role until next month. Until then he’s back in Sydney.

He acknowledges it has been a tough time for the Taree station, still in mourning after the loss of the much-loved station commander Max Beard.

With winter well upon us, he urges everyone to be extra-vigilant to reduce their chances of becoming a victim of fire by conducting home safety audits.

A strong focus of his work will be prevention strategies, including a free smoke alarm battery replacement service for elderly residents.

Taree is also the storage centre for hazmat materials for major incidents and provides training for community fire units as well as pre-incident plans for local infrastructure considered at high risk.