She has officially become the next Leeton Fire and Rescue NSW Captain following the retirement of long-serving leader Graham Parks.

Mr Parks was the captain of Leeton Fire and Rescue for 39 years before deciding it was time to step away last year.

In that time, Kirk Walker took on the Acting Captain role. He is now the Deputy Captain, with Captain Tyrrell now officially leading the Leeton firefighters in that role.

She started in the role on July 1 after first becoming a firefighter seven-and-a-half years ago.

"I am the first female Captain for Leeton, but I don't really look at it that way," Captain Tyrrell said.

"It wasn't really about all of that, I have never been treated any different. I don't really think about it, I don't think it makes a difference.

"The boys have always joked around that I was a bossy one, so now it's just official."

The role of Captain is a serious one, while it is about leadership, it entails many aspects.

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The whole Leeton Fire and Rescue crew and their safety is the responsibility of Captain Tyrrell.

"Their safety, their actions, it sits on my shoulders," she said.

"There's always the admin side of things as well. The people management, time sheets, equipment, general day-to-day operations.

"On the actual fire ground you are the point of call. It's a fair bit of responsibility, but I'm up for the challenge.

"It's been a learning curve and I still am learning."

Captain Tyrrell said having Mr Parks still in Leeton was also helpful, saying he was happy to answer any and all of her questions, offer advice.

"I guess you could say he is a bit of a mentor for me, it's great for me to be able to talk to him when I need advice or have a question," she said.

"He's always happy to help me, so I'm really grateful for that. He has a lot of experience."

While Captain Tyrrell has been busily getting to know the role, Mr Parks said he was enjoying life away from being on call 24-7.

He said there were certainly aspects to the job he missed, but he was now able to enjoy life without the pressure of such a huge role.

A farewell for Mr Parks was held earlier this year and he is now a life member of the Leeton organisation.

"It was July, 1982 that I started," he said.

"There's a lot of memories from over the years. Some good and some not-so-good.

"There's been a lot of big fires and some big jobs.

"Many jobs you would rather not go to, but it's part of the job.

"You don't get used to it, but you learn how to handle it."

Mr Parks said he still calls into the station and is helping with things where he can and he retired as the longest-serving firefighter Leeton has had in its history.

"Graham was the Captain when I first started, so I've learned so much from him and the right way to do things," Captain Tyrrell said.

"He's showed me how to deal with things, approach things, it's good to be able to still go to him when I need to."

Leeton Fire and Rescue is currently in the process of interviewing for a second Deputy Captain. "That will give us a good leadership group," Captain Tyrrell said.

"Graham secured that position for us, so it's going to be really good."

Leeton Fire and Rescue currently has 16 firefighters.

Captain Tyrrell said there organisation had just completed a recruitment drive, but was always on the hunt for new people to sign up.

She said she was looking forward to several elements of her new role.

Mr Parks said in being Captain the person had to learn how to look at situations in a different way.

"You have to look at the big picture," Captain Tyrrell said.

"Already I have walked away from some call outs we've been to and realised I could have done things differently, so it's all a learning experience."

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