Fire and Rescue captain, greenkeeper and drone flyer, Paul Lyons doesn't get much time off.
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He is now Batemans Bay Fire and Rescue's retained captain and you can meet him at the station's open day on May 18.
His retained position means he is always on call.
"You're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The pagers go off, you leave your primary employment or your home, come down to the station, get on the truck and respond to incidents from there," Mr Lyons said.
"We've got a young fresh new crew, and I'm looking forward to being the mentor that guides them to becoming firefighters."
I had no idea about (firefighting), to be honest, but I looked into it and have never looked back.
- Paul Lyons
When he isn't at the station or at the golf course, Mr Lyons is flying drones - and loving it.
"It's a paid hobby - it pays for my toys," he said.
"I've always enjoyed flying drones, doing real estate photography, making videos for tourism shoots."
He never thought he would become a firefighter, but had always wanted to be useful.
"I saw an advertisement in the newspaper 12 years ago, looking for volunteers at Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) because they were struggling for numbers. And I thought, you know what, that's something I could sink my teeth into," he said.
"After about 12 months, they disbanded due to lack of members. The then-captain of the VRA said why don't you think about joining Fire and Rescue. I had no idea about it, to be honest, but I looked into it and have never looked back."
Over his nine years' experience with Fire and Rescue, Mr Lyons said the greatest fulfillment came from speaking at school prevention education programs and meeting members of the community.
"The hectic (memories) you don't tend to dwell too much on or remember too much of," he said.
"The ones that tend to stick with you are the ones where you've made a bit of a difference."
Mr Lyons is looking forward to working with his new team.
"We did have a lot of people who had been here for a very long time," he said.
"It's always good to get those fresh faces in because it re-energises everybody, gets everyone excited and lifts the bar for everyone around them."
What is Fire and Rescue?
Mr Lyons said Fire and Rescue had a broad range of capabilities, compared to other emergency services.
"There are tonnes of things you can do within Fire and Rescue," he said.
"At this station particularly, we're a primary rescue station. We're also an intermediate hazmat station and we also fight fires.
"Hazmat is handling all hazardous material spills on land and in-land waterways. We have a boat that we can use to respond with if there are any fuel spills on the river."
He said the role involved much responsibility and would give him a chance to develop within the industry.
"I've got 19 crew members to take care of, day-to-day running of the station; organising the drills, organising availability, running incidents, sorting out all of the training.
"Because it's a paid position, instead of a volunteer position, if you want to join a permanent station and do it full-time, it's a pathway to do that."
Fire and Rescue Open Day
Mr Lyons will join other retained Batemans Bay Fire and Rescue staff to speak to community members at their open day on May 18 from 10am to 2pm.
Community members will have the chance to speak to retained station members about their roles and hear fire safety information.
Moruya and Narooma stations will also host open days on May 18.
