David Hoadley retires after 21 years at the helm of the RFS Canobolas Zone

From that fire, which impacted on 18 properties and caused more than $7 million in damage, a change in approaching and coordinator bush fire defence was developed by the Canobolas command which produced A Blueprint for Leading a Volunteer Workforce.

Authored by Supt Hoadley, its successful implementation means he now feels its time to retire after 21 years at Canobolas' helm.

"It was a very big fire and caused a lot of damage, a lot of stock losses, pasture, fences. It was a fire where things didn't go as well as they should have done," Mr Hoadley said.

"Canobolas Zone had only been formed for about six months, we learned a lot of lessons and it was probably a watershed event that made us really look at what we do and how we do it.

"We decided that we never, ever wanted to go through anything like that again."

Part of the Blueprint's strategy was getting to know, and trust the various stakeholders in rural fire fighting. This was achieved through 'gum tree' meetings, or informal gatherings where Mr Hoadley and his staff met and listened to property owners and volunteers.

"To us, the key is having our volunteers and our captains make the decisions on the fire ground," Mr Hoadley said. "We haven't been a district where we have dictated to our captains from the offices to what they should do.

"We believe they are the best people to make the decisions. They're on the ground, they're at the fire and its our responsibility to empower them to be able to make the decisions.

"And when they do, we trust them to make the right ones."

There have been fires since, Mr Hoadley saying a 2017 blaze at Avondale near Cumnock which was contained, compared to the Sir Ivan fire near Dunedoo at the same time, which caused a lot of damage, proved the Canobolas' strategies worked.

"That was a great win by our brigades. The other one that was really significant was the 2018 Mount Canobolas fire which everyone in Orange would be well aware of.

"That fire burnt a lot of the national park but we were able to protect all the homes and the infrastructure.

"If you put the right planning and place and you develop the right relationships with your brigades and volunteers you can prevent fires from becoming disasters."

Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the RFS but Mr Hoadley says planning is the key to best defence.

"Regardless of what the circumstances are," he said. "If we get that correct we can achieve a lot in putting fires out quickly.

"I'm a firm believer that if you get the foundations right you can cope with a lot of situations."

As the Supt of Canobolas RFS, Mr Hoadley, 68, led a team responsible for over 80 brigades and 2700 volunteers.

He puts a lot of success down to his team at the Forest Road headquarters, with deputy Brett Bowden now acting in the position.

Mr Hoadley plans to spend his retirement working on the family property near Barry, doing some travelling and spending time with his six grandchildren. He also plans to get involved with the local Barry-Hobbys Yards RFS brigade.

"I feel I've achieved all I set out to do in my role with the RFS, it's time to hand it over to the next lot of people to continue it on."

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