The people of Scotland may not have noticed they have a newly amalgamated fire service, so seamless has been the transition from area brigades.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Board chairman Pat Watters made the observation as he praised staff at all levels of the service.
The board was in Perth on Thursday for its first meeting since the service came into existence on April 1. It was followed by a civic reception hosted by provost Liz Grant.
Mr Watters cited the example of north Highland wildfires tackled in the days following the merger, in which dozens of firefighters battled more than 200 fires in a 10-day period.
He said: “The amount of work the service did with the wildfires up north and how crews and staff dealt with that show the people of Scotland they still have an excellent fire and rescue service.
“They probably don’t even know there has been a change and that didn’t happen by accident.
“It was through hard work by the control staff, support staff and staff on the ground, as well as the management team.
“A lot of hours have been put in and I’d like to put on record my thanks for the long, hard hours put in by so many people so no change was seen when we went to a new service.
“We still have a first-class service being delivered, which is being valued throughout Scotland.”