After 40 years as a CFA staff member, Bruce has retired from his position but re-joined as a volunteer in the Bendigo Headquarters Brigade to continue the important work he does in peer support.

Already this year he has visited Batemans Bay, Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance to offer support to firefighters who have been battling with bushfires.

His career has taken Bruce to 18 stations since joining as a volunteer in 1974 and joining the staff in 1979.

"One of the best things about the whole job has always been the people," he said. "The organisation doesn't look after its people,its people look after its people. I've worked with some amazing people in 40 years."

Bruce has headed up teams to help control some of the state's most devastating incidents during his time as a firefighter.

Major incidents he has attended include the Gisborne-Wandon fire in 1982, a toy factory fire in Brayside that had 27 trucks help control it and the fire in the Reject Shop in Bendigo.

He was operations officer at the Longford Gas Explosion in 1996 and described it as scary.

"I was shit scared the whole time I was there," he said. "All of Victoria's natural gas goes there from Bass Strait and the explosion killed three people and shut off gas to the whole state.

"I worked there four nights. They were trying to restart the plant and when workers with gas detectors were there, every time one would go into alarm for a flat battery or whatever reason, the workers would just bolt.

"When you've got people who know the plant that scared, and you see them run, you think 'shit, this is a dangerous place'."

The fear that often accompanies firefighters attending major incidents, is something Bruce has discussed a lot over the years.

"When I was at Geelong, one of my first officers went to a major fire at the Shell Refinery in 1979. He said it was the first time he questioned whether we should be going in," Bruce said.

"We had trouble getting in because the workers were trying to get out. It made him question who had more sense, them who were leaving or us who were trying to go in. I've always had that thought in mind. Particularly at dangerous jobs like Longford, you think, 'shit, should I really be here?' But if we're not there, it doesn't get done."

But there was something that kept bringing Bruce back to help fight fires.

"Someone has to keep communities safe, it may as well be us," he said. "At the end of it, it is the satisfaction of a job done.

"You don't think of the dangers while you're there. They always come to you later on."

Bruce's path into peer support came after he took 18 months stress leave after media reports and scrutiny of the CFA began affecting him and his family.

"The last couple of years have been difficult (on stress leave)," Bruce said. "I had about 18 months recovery.

"As part of my recovery the peer coordinator rang and asked me to have a chat. I said I was going OK but he said I should become a peer supporter.

"That helped me a lot. I got some good help with my issues and I thought if I could help other people through things, its my way of paying back."

But peer support was something firefighters had been doing unofficially for as long as Bruce could remember.

"You need to talk to people about it," Bruce said. "We're far more aware of it now (but) we always did it unofficially. We always had a debrief in the kitchen and if we had new bloke, we would just watch and give them the opportunity to talk if they wanted to and then you make yourself available.

"Probably after Black Saturday it became much more formalised. It's not just fire related either, we look after member's families. The peers had hell of a lot of work in the northern part of state during droughts with members who are farmers doing it hard. Far too many didn't make it through."

There was no shortage of people eager to congratulate Bruce for his CFA efforts.

He declined a farewell at work in favour of hosting 120 people at his property near Bendigo.

"When you invite people to a party, you expect maybe a third wont turn up," Bruce said. Well everyone came. It was very humbling.

"I can't talk without getting emotional. So rather than do a speech, I sent out about 50 or 60 personalised invitations. I figured it was the best way to do it. I can tell each person in my way what I want to tell them. I found it very cathartic."

Helping communities through the CFA is a family business for Bruce.

His grandfather and father were both volunteers in Victoria, his brother is a senior station officer at Frankston, his daughter Janette is captain of the volunteer Bendigo Headquarters Brigade where his wife Lin also volunteers.

Bruce's son Brett, who works at the Mount Alexander Shire, also helped at Redesdale on Black Saturday by driving a grader.

"Lin and the kids have suffered over years with me not being here or working odd hours," Bruce said.

"Janette went to the fires around Mansfield last year and came back and said she knows why I do it.

"I've also been on other side of fence. When Brett was driving a grader at Redesdale (on Black Saturday), for the first time I understood what my family went through. First the first time, I had my son working that close to fires, that was an eye opener."

Bruce's experience with Black Saturday also ended up providing a memorable moment.

"I had knocked off the morning of Black Saturday and was called in to Bendigo on the early hours of Sunday morning and worked four nights at Bracewell Street.

"Then I went down to Toolangi as a sector commander and ended up as divisional commander at Kinglake.

"We closed that down and were the last there. That was most of rewarding jobs, handing back control to the Kinglake locals.

"For two weeks they had South Australians looking after their back yard...they wanted it to get back to normal. After a long chat with the local brigade, we handed it back. That was good."