HIS heart starts pumping as he jumps behind the wheel and speeds towards stifling blazes that could melt the mirrors on his red and yellow truck.

In January, Malcolm Stacey was racing towards Warwick when he took one look at a huge plume of smoke rising high above Ranger Rd and knew he needed backup.

The Gladfield Maryvale Fire Brigade first officer and Warwick Fire Brigade deputy group officer jumped on the phone and requested six more trucks be rushed to the scene of the Sunday afternoon fire.

As an incident controller, Mr Stacey knows that in containing fires, the first half an hour is often chaos.

He says crews often divert to contain smaller fires on their way to fight a blaze.

They are trained to keep a safe distance away, but some fires still have harsh effects, he said.

"You cough a lot and tears run down your face," Mr Stacey said.

"(But) you want to make sure you don't lose the bloody thing."

Eighteen years ago Mr Stacey was inspired to join the brigade when he was forced to defend his own Maryvale property during a horror fire season.

He didn't lose any property and he started volunteering in the role that has now become a way of life.

He worked to protect property when blazes were ripping through country from Killarney to Yangan in 2009, in a season that saw firefighters called out to blazes almost every day for 10 weeks.

He fought a blaze covering 16,000 hectares at Bundaberg but has also found himself wading through knee-deep mud and rubbish clearing up after flood damage.

And now, after almost two decades of service, Mr Stacey has been recognised as a nominee for the QBANK Everyday Heroes award.

"There's a lot of people that deserve recognition, including my wife Leonie," he said.

Awards finalists will be announced on August 31 with winners revealed on September 21.