"The small things haven't changed. We've still got to squirt water.
"But we're doing a lot more now, like attending accidents and doing educational and school visits," Senior Firefighter Jeffrey Woodford said.
"But you don't get so many house fires now. Smoke detectors have made a big difference and buildings are constructed better now." Mr Woodford (63) joined the Fire Service as a 17-year-old in 1967 and was one of 26 Dunedin firefighters to be awarded long service gold stars at a Dunedin City Fire Station presentation ceremony on Saturday.
"I've had a great time. Helping people is very satisfying.
You're being asked to do something for people that they can't do themselves."
The awards were presented by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull.
"Firefighters in Dunedin do a lot more than squirt water on couches in Castle St," Mr Cull said. "They contribute a lot of their time and their lives to the community."
Fire Service East Otago assistant area commander Trevor Tilyard said the gold star had eight points for the eight letters of its Latin motto Servimus, (We Serve).
The firefighter injured on Thursday when a fire hose burst at the Dunedin City Fire Station, Lindsay Rae, could not be present to receive his gold star for 35 years' service.
"He's been discharged from hospital and is resting at home for two or three weeks," Mr Tilyard said.
Gold star recipients were:
Jeffrey Woodford (45 years), Noel Botting, Kenneth Campbell and Keith Maydon (43 years), Robert Calder and Owen Williams (41 years), Laurence Cooney, Barry Gibson and Trevor Tilyard (39 years), Trevor Allum (37 years), Ben Pitelen and Wayne Reid (35 years), Chris Ryalls, Lindsay Rae and John MacKay (35 years), Neil Hardey (29 years), Tony Gyde-Riggs, Mark Dyer, Peter Hessian and Brent Foster (27 years), Kerry McNamara, Robin Hulbosch, Mark Leonard, Ron Oranje, Nick Petrie and Grant Swanson (25 years).
