Fire fighting runs through the veins of the McWhirters so much so Albert's son, Steven currently serves out of the Port Macquarie station.

Both men were present at the official opening of the new, state-of-the-art fire station on Central Road on Monday.

There are so many coincidences between the McWhirters and the history of fire fighting, some would argue it was fate.

It all started for Albert, or the man most people know as Mate, when he and a friend went to assist at a fire, he says where the Garden Village Retirement home is located today.

"We were approached by the Mayor at the time, Les Crisp, and we were asked to be in the fire brigade," he explained.

"I said 'as long as I get to drive the red truck' and he told me that it could be arranged."

A week later Albert and his friend attended a meeting for the brigade to be chosen.

It was being held near the front entrance of the building and Mate was waiting at the back.

But fate intervened and his companion managed to find him in time to arrive at the meeting.

"Other than that it wouldn't have happened and I never would have become a volunteer fire fighter," he said.

The Fire Brigade including Albert as the engine keeper was gazetted on December 13, 1957 which also happened to be Mate's birthday.

But it was the day before that the newly formed crew responded to the very first fire call-out.

A small bush fire was spotted at the Settlement Point ferry.

Initially it was assessed by the brigade as posing no harm to life or property.

But the wind changed later in the day and an elderly couple and their home came under threat.

Mate said he remembers the first call-out like it was yesterday.

"We commandeered the ferry and sat on it pumping water straight out of the river and saved the house," he said.

"In the end the ferry driver was happy because he just wanted his ferry back."

Mate recalled the time when he and his crew were called to a truck roll over on the Pacific Highway.

The truck was carrying radioactive material.

"None of it broke and the people from Lucas Heights came and removed it pretty quickly," he said.

"But some stuff was buried there and didn't that cause a bit of a kerfuffle recently when the new highway was being built in the area."

But when Mate looks back on his time in the service he said it was the friendship and the good times that he missed the most and felt honoured to be such a rich part of the area's history.

"We had some of the best backyard parties and it was just a big family affair," he said.

"We always had a good time, it was a great bunch of blokes and we all got along with each other.

"I suppose its a bit humbling to look back, we had so much fun. It's the best thing I ever did."

Both father and son often catch up and talk about their most memorable times in the service.

While Mate was the first volunteer firefighter he said his son Steven worked the first shift when permanent fire fighters were introduced.

"So there's another coincidence," he said.

"We often talk about it especially how different it all is today, it's all changed but it's still a very good brigade."

Albert even shed some light on the nickname that most people know him by.

"It came from my uncle," he explained.

"He started calling me Mate from a very young age.

"I loved it and I have been called that all my life. It's just one of those things that stuck."