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"We wanted to be able to help out others on the ranch, so we got our own group together," Old Timer Lee Rice said. "We were too old for them, but we're still young enough to fight fires." That year the Old Timers responded to four calls. Two of those were house fires while the other two were nothing but false alarms.

"A lot of times, we can save other crews a trip out here, if it's a false alarm, or whatever," said Old Timers secretary and treasurer Dick Van Roggen, who joined the group in 1983. At 75, he was the youngest Old Timer when he came on board. "We're here to provide a little more protection, especially on the back side of the ranch," Van Roggen said. "Usually, we just try to hold the line until someone else shows up."

The pride and joy of the Old Timers is a 1948 Reo fire truck, which the original crew purchased in 1979 from CDF "for $700 and a promise not to bring it back," Van Roggen said. The truck comes equipped with a 500-gallon water tank, the Old Timers' main weapon versus ferocious fires. Some time ago, the tank began to leak, and when the crew responded to a house fire, it didn't have enough water to completely extinguish the blaze. By the time CDF and Tehama County firefighters responded, it was too late to save the residence. "If we hadn't run out of water, we would have had it out," said Van Roggen.

At this point, the group scrambled to raise money to fix the pump, but it was tough for the Old Timers, whose main source of income came from recycling. "We're a self-supporting unit," Rice said. "Even though sometimes, we have to beg, borrow and steal, so to speak." The organization has officially been a non-profit group since 1980.

It is really important for the Old Timers to make sure their equipment is in working order. Protection of their community is the goal.

"Once in a while, when we have a major fire in the area and number 13 is called off on another job, we're the only ones on The Ranch," Rice said. "It's very rare that we miss a fire call."

"Number 13" is how the Old Timers refer to RTA's Tehama County volunteer fire station.. While Van Roggen said his group "always offers our services," he mentioned that state and county firefighters usually work seperately from them when they arrive at a fire.

In addition to fighting fires, the Old Timers drive Santa Clause around their community during Christmas time and take part in parades throughout the county.

Original Article By: Jack Moran of the Red Bluff Daily News