She has become Dungog Fire and Rescue station's first female captain.

When she isn't working as a Veterinary nurse in Clarence Town, Cassandra is on deck at the station.

After she first heard the news, Ms Surmon was initially overwhelmed but is now excited to be taking charge of the station.

"It was sort of daunting, a bit overwhelming [when I found out] but it was great," she said.

"I feel really privileged to be able to be the captain here at Dungog and to be able to lead the crew... and hopefully make it enthusiastic for everybody."

Having only begun her work in the Dungog station 12 months ago, climbing through the ranks this quickly doesn't happen very often, according to Ms Surmon.

However, Ms Surmon's work in the defence force previously as well as working closely with other station commanders has left her in the perfect position to step up and take the reigns.

"I think my military background, being in the defence force for seven years and working closely with design commanders in Rutherford... I think they were quite happy with my experience," she said.

For Ms Surmon, Fire and Rescue gives her an opportunity to protect the community and help people as well as educate the people of Dungog.

This was also a big factor in her decision to join the defence force previously.

"Fire and Rescue, it's important to me because we're out there to protect the community, out there to educate, educate the children, the up and coming generation. That's a massive thing for me, education is a big one," she said.

"I think that comes from my military background, helping people but also just being me as a person... I've always wanted to help whether I''ve been in the military or in the fire station or not."

"I've always wanted to lend a helping hand when possible and to help people."

During her time in the Fire and Rescue station before she became captain, Ms Surmon learnt a lot and experienced many highlights and challenges.

In particular, she enjoyed the training provided to her and some of the jobs that she got called out to.

"[One of] the highlights would be all of my training, training has been amazing. I've learned so much in the last 12 months," Ms Surmon said.

"Also a couple of incidents I've been to - one was a car fire and that was a fairly big eye opener just to know how much is actually involved that others might think is so simple."

"It's quite complex, even though we go to incidents and the incident is finished, it's not finished for us. Then we have to come back to the station and refurbish and there's paperwork... It's a process."

Despite this, Ms Surmon also struggled with a number of aspects of the job when she first started.

Specifically, the claustrophobic nature of the equipment was a hurdle that she had to overcome when Ms Surmon began.

"The breathing apparatus and things that we have to wear, it's very closed in. You're very claustrophobic... [I struggled] at the start but I was determined and came in and practise, practise, practise, basically putting it on and taking it off," she said.

"Now I don't have a problem with it."

The Dungog Fire and Rescue station, alongside all other station's across the state will be hosting an open day on Saturday, May 13.

This will be a family friendly day aimed to educate and entertain the community, according to Ms Surmon.

"It's family friendly and we've got a free sausage sizzle on, activities for the kids. We'll have showbags for the kids, information and also we'll have our applications for recruitment so if people are interested in being a part of the Fire Rescue please apply," she said.

"People can come in and have a look at the truck, they can jump in... [They can] have a look at our breathing apparatuses, have a look at what we've actually got in the truck. I think they'd be quite surprised with how much we carry on the truck."

"The 13th marks an open day for all stations to open their doors to the public, come in and have a look at our jackets, try on equipment, that type of thing... It comes back to education."

For more information visit the Dungog Fire and Rescue station's Facebook page.