Snake handling training for firefighters from Boggabri

That's the view of Boggabri Fire and Rescue NSW station 229 commander Brian King, after he and two colleagues completed some training on live venomous reptiles at the weekend.

The training was a first for the station's staff - and even more handy than usual at the current time, he said.

"The local area is close to bush and there are lots of grassed areas … especially in the climate we're in now, with the lack of water, snakes are coming into urban areas looking for water and food."

Captain King, and retained firefighters Andrew McKenzie and Warren Pringle, did the training in Tamworth along with colleagues from that area.

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WIRES conducted the lessons using brown, black and tiger snakes, as well as a death adder.

Tamworth 452 station's Min McDonald said she and her counterparts all had "a much greater understanding of snakes" as a result.

"All the different species have different behaviours and different ways to approach them," she said.

Captain King said snakes had been known to pop up at schools, the pool and even the main street of town.

"I removed one from the front of the fire station last year," he said.

He said the first call people should make if they saw a snake in a built-up area was triple 0.

Their call would then be directed to the most suitable, or available, agency, which could be WIRES or Fire and Rescue.