Prime Minister Scott Morrison has welcomed an announcement from the NSW Rural Fire Service that a volunteer firefighter was not sacked after an expletive-laden rant directed at the PM at the height of the bushfires.

It comes after volunteer Paul Parker told The Project on Sunday night about the consequences of the viral rant during Australia’s horror bushfire season.

“The message I got was about time you brought the truck back because we were about to send the police to go look for you,” he told The Project.

“And then there were further comments with gestures and arm movements saying that I’m finished. It’s all over.

“Another captain from another brigade within Batemans Bay came out and I asked him the question, I said: ‘What’s going on?’ He said: ‘You’re finished because of your allegations and foul language against the PM of the country while representing the RFS’.

“Didn’t know you could get sacked from a volunteer organisation but apparently you can.”

However, in a post on Twitter on Monday, the RFS denied Parker had been sacked.

“We can confirm Paul remains a member of the NSW RFS and has not been dismissed,” the post said.

The Prime Minister was asked about the controversy on Monday and said he was pleased Mr Parker had not been fired.

“There should never be any question whether he should have been fired or not. Of course they shouldn’t. But the RFS have confirmed he wasn’t. And I’m pleased about that,” he told reporters.

He also said he believed Parker had been reacting to comments that had been “misreported” and denied ever saying that firefighters “enjoyed doing this”.

“What I said was firefighters would be out there defending their communities, they want to be out there defending their communities when their communities were at risk,” Mr Morrison said.

“There was a lot of things that were misrepresented over the summer. There was a bit of a pile on. But I got thick skin.”

Mr Parker became a household name after ranting on national television about the PM’s lack of support for volunteer firefighters.

Emotionally spent after battling the never-ending fires in Nelligen on the south coast of NSW, Mr Parker drove his fire truck directly over to a 7 News camera crew and told them exactly what he thought of his Prime Minister (no filter).

“Are you from the media? Tell the Prime Minister to go and get f**ked from Nelligen. We really enjoy doing this shit, f**Khead,” he said.

His words struck a chord with the public, making him an overnight hero. The moment made international news, with some even memorialising his rant in street art.

NEVER ENDING BEER TAB

And his viral rant has reaped the most quintessential Aussie reward: a never-ending tab at the local pub.

“Pretty much every day someone comes in and puts their money down, telling us to buy a few beers for that bloke who got stuck into the Prime Minister,” the licensee of Nelligen’s Steampacket Hotel, Joel Alvey told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Even Aussies outside of the small riverside town have been calling in, wanting to bulk up the tab.

A GoFundMe page has already raised $120 specifically for the cause.

“I suppose about $500 has turned up, and it keeps coming,” says Mr Alvey, who isn’t shocked by the nation’s reaction to Mr Parker’s heated words.

“He only said what the rest of us were thinking,” he said.

Another GoFundMe has been set up by Mr Parker’s neighbours, calling for donations to help him rebuild his own home which suffered extensive damage during the fires.

“Paul hasn’t been able to work, and therefore has not generated an income, due to his volunteering with the Rural Fire Service,” the page reads.

“Please help donate to Paul, so that he can rebuild his own life whilst still protecting the community that he loves.”

A grateful Mr Parker – who is a regular at the Steampacket – said his bar tab becomes a shout for all his mates.

Mr Parker’s explosive rant came after days on end of fighting fires as they raced down Clyde Mountain and straight towards Nelligen, population 300.

Climbing temps and dangerous fire weather have made conditions have seen long-burning fires right along the NSW south coast. Among them was he massive Currowan Fire, which has finally been extinguished after burning for 74 days.

The flames licked through 499,621 hectares, spanning right across the region and spreading to neighbouring councils including Eurobodalla, Wingecarribee and Queanbeyan Palerang.

A total of 312 homes were destroyed and 173 were damaged.