With muffled laughter he recalled a memory where the "bells" went while the two men were doused in soap scrubbing the grime off following a training in the smoke chamber.
Without drying himself or the soap Pickering chucked shorts on and headed for the old fireman pole to get downstairs.
"I went down 90 miles an hour and could hear Brad's breath right on my neck," he described. "I thought, if I've come down here that quickly Brad will come down even faster - I'd greased the pole!"
And sure enough a few seconds later Cunningham crashed on top of Pickering and both men were in a laughing heap.
Whangārei firefighter Colin Linklater - who first became friends with Cunningham while attending Northland College together - said a simple: "sounds about right" in response to the fire pole story before he shared his own story illustrating Cunningham's wit.
"Whenever we would go on duty we'd have a parade where we line up, come to attention and the boss calls out the roll - it's quick when there are only four of you in the station."
Linklater said they tried to tell their boss it was "silly" to get fully kitted out with every piece of gear every day for the roll call. However, the boss was a "stickler for the rules".
But Cunningham to the rescue.
"One day for roll call Brad put his gloves on his feet and his gumboots on his hands. He pulled his over pants all the way up to his chest and he had a stupid look on his face," Linklater said.
The officer in charge took one look at Cunningham and burst out laughing.
"We never had a parade again."
Humour, fun, and long lasting friendships are what kept Cunningham's love burning for his line of work.
One of the cemented Bradley-isms being: "If you can't have a laugh every day in this job, there's something wrong."
Cunningham's firefighting career was ignited when the 19-year-old version of himself spotted an advertisement for probationary firefighters in an Auckland paper. With the promise of $90 a week wages and four days on, four days off he applied.
The newest rookie at the Mt Roskill Fire Station left the days of teacher training college behind him and - under the mentorship of his first station officer George Carlisle - began a career fighting for what was fair and helping communities stay safe.
A trait which left an impression on Pickering: "Brad has always being an honest, caring person. He always had a sense of what is right."
Evident in the 25-plus years Cunningham spent as a local representative in the Professional Firefighters Union.
In 1982 Cunningham - alongside his wife Terry - answered the call home and took up a position at the Whangārei fire station where, in 2004, he attained the rank of senior station officer and managed his own "watch" of firefighters.
Fishing, sailing, and spending time with his grandchildren will fill retired Cunningham's days now.
Also being farewelled at the celebration were Scott Coutts - 24 years' service, Ken Vinson - 18 years' service, and Robert Wilson - seven years' service.
