It was the right time to leave, after nine years of being the town’s fire chief, he said last month, after his retirement.
He would miss the team, but believed it was time to move on and allow younger members to step up.
"When you’re in a volunteer organisation you can only do so much. I’ve done my time."
During his 32-year career as a volunteer firefighter, he had seen several changes in how the Fire Service operated and believed the way brigades approached risky situations had improved.
From entering fires to cutting people out of car crashes, there was a stronger focus on scene awareness and assessing the risks.
"It is better. There’s a lot more danger around these days. There’s lot more stuff these days that it could be like a P lab."
Highlights of his time with the brigade were being appointed chief and receiving his 25-year gold star medal.
"You can’t really talk about fires being highlights ... over the years we’ve had some good saves like in fires and car crashes. We’ve kept people going until the ambulance gets there.
"He took up the role of chief to move into a position where he could take control of a situation and "point everybody in the right direction".
"It was good to keep everybody on the straight and narrow."
He had enjoyed working with his immediate team.
"From the person standing on the road stopping the traffic or cutting the person out of the car it’s a team effort. It’s been great to be part of that team.
"I will miss it, but time to get the young ones in who are more into computers and the training regime."
"When you’re in a little town like Otematata with not very much people it was something to do and they needed a hand.
"A lot of my friends were in the fire brigade at the time, as well.
"Everybody knows everybody. Everybody helps."
Mr Thomas moved to Otematata with his parents when he was about 10 years old and has stayed on to raise a family of his own.
No new chief has been appointed yet, but Kevin Powell was "going through the motions" with the Fire Service to be appointed chief, Mr Thomas said.
Mr Thomas lives in Otematata with his wife and has two children.
He said he looked forward to more whitebaiting, fishing and spending time with his family.
