About 80 firemen, family and friends of Mr Spurway and his wife Marlene attended the retirement dinner at the Bathurst RSL Club.

Mr Spurway entertained the crowd recalling vividly some of the biggest fires to have occurred over almost 50 years.

Among the official guests were Assistant Commissioner, Jim Hamilton the director of regional operations who made three presentations to Mr Spurway.

Mr Spurway served most of his career as a volunteer and deputy captain with Kelso Fire Brigade.

He had previously served in the Orange and Bathurst brigades, starting as a fireman on February 1, 1966.

In his reply after the presentations, Mr Spurway related how the fire at Bathurst Gaol was among the worst he attended.

It had been on a Sunday, Mr Spurway had been taking part in RSL Swimming Club and police sports when a call went out for "every man and guns, one fireman said he had eight guns at home."

"We arrived to find the kitchen and library on fire," Mr Spurway said.

"It was horrific to see the animal acts of prisoners in the jail.

"About 4.30pm a few bullets were let go, four or five were shot in front of us, it was all over. A Royal Commission of Inquiry was held.

"It was a time I saw what was the dumbest or bravest thing ever, these two guys one Darcy Mutton and another went in and searched 250-300 guys lined up against walls.

"We were putting out spot fires all night, 200 fires in dog boxes. We were putting out fires and looking to where the next ladder was."

He said a plastics factory was another challenging blaze because of the extreme heat it generated.

The most dangerous fire was a house burning in George Street where a man had booby trapped rooms with drums of diesel fuel, enough to destroy a city block.

Mr Spurway spoke of his many experiences working alongside a succession of outstanding brigade captains and station officers.

starting in Orange in 1966 and moving to Bathurst to start a milk run in 1967 with a major fire at the Bathurst Gas Works fought on the ground by firemen who would call in a helicopter today.

That fire had been followed by another at a printing shop where explosions had been heard before the alarm sounded. Another big fire had occurred in the Army Hall, one of the scenes Mr Spurway referred to saying "we saved the block of land."

Assistant Commissioner Hamilton presented Mr Spurway with a third clasp to his NSW Fire Brigades Long Service and Good Conduct medal in recognition of 40 years service.

He also presented a Commendation for Meritorious Service Medal for Mr Spurway's actions at a unit fire in Durham Street, Bathurst on May 30, 2004 a commendation that had previously been presented.

Mr Spurway had been driving to work at his motel early on that morning when he noticed smoke and fire coming from the home unit on Durham Street.

He flagged down a truck driver to have him call triple zero turned on a garden hose and banged on the door of the burning unit to alert residents to the fire.

Three adults and two children had been sleeping in the unit at the time. Mr Spurway found the main door deadlocked and kicked it trying to get inside and allow the occupants to escape.

He had pulled the disoriented residents to safety as the fire brigade arrived to mop up the fire.