A local man has been honoured for dedicating a quarter of a century to volunteer work as a firefighter.

Matt Anderson has received a Gold Star medal from the United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA) for 25 years of service to the Luggate Fire Brigade at the Annual Service Volunteer Fire Brigade Awards. 

Matt didn't have dreams of being a fireman, he said, but his father asked him to go along to a practice one night to make up numbers and he was quickly hooked. 

"I don't think I ever stopped going,” Matt said.

Nor has he ever missed a practice or training session. Since starting in 1995, he has had 100 per cent attendance. Matt credits this with an understanding family and understanding employers.  

"I've had different jobs, but I've always been in the fire brigade before I had a job."

Matt with his family, after receiving the award PHOTO: Supplied

Matt admits to being "pretty nervous" on the awards night at the Lake Wanaka Centre a few weeks ago, but that was because he knew that he'd have to get up and do a speech, and that's "certainly out of my comfort zone".  

The award itself hasn't changed much for Matt. It did give him cause to look around at the younger members of the team and realise: "Crikey! There are people in our brigade who weren't born when I started."

Matt, a born-and-bred Luggate resident, joined the brigade when he was 16-years-old. 

Being part of the team offers "good camaraderie" and an opportunity to meet people whom he normally wouldn't have met.  

While the fire brigade was formed to extinguish and control fires, members are also called to motor vehicle accidents, and often assist on medical calls. 

Matt doesn’t see any of this as a chore. "It's not a duty looking out for other people. I look after them. They look after me. It's how the world works."

He has never been asked to rescue a kitten from a tree, but Matt did attend a call where a puppy had locked itself inside a car by jumping on the door locks. After assessing the situation and realising the dog was not in stress or danger, the brigade called the Automobile Association.

Matt has just been made deputy chief of the brigade, an honour and title he felt a "little reserved" about getting because his dad, Rod Anderson, is the fire chief.  

"When we go out in the firetruck, we do have a pretty good understanding of each other. We know how to communicate without actually talking. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I think it's a very good thing."

Matt lives in Luggate with his wife, Lucille, and two children, Will and Dot.