T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Bill Rinderer, left, and Bob Matz of Martins Ferry celebrate 50 years of service to the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department.

MARTINS FERRY — Martins Ferry residents Bill Rinderer and Bob Matz have spent the last 50 years of their lives fighting fires for free.

Both Rinderer and Matz are on the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department at the Vigilant Station, where they both said that the camaraderie and fun of membership is what kept them coming back for all these years.

Rinderer said he joined the VFD because his grandfather was a Wheeling fire chief, and he grew up around the fire station. Matz’s uncle was a member of the Martins Ferry VFD, so he grew up coming down to the station and playing on the trucks, which inspired him to become a firefighter.

“It’s been a ​​lot of fun for 50 years. We had some good times back then,” Matz said. “We used to have a lot of fires, and we got a lot of good experience under our belts. We had a good fire department back then. And I’m not saying that it’s not good now, but it’s just hard to get the numbers to join now, but that’s that’s everywhere. It’s not just here. It seems like the younger generation doesn’t want to do it.”

Rinderer added that when they first joined, there was a waiting list.

“I really put an application in and, if it wasn’t for the guy across the street from me quitting, I wouldn’t have gotten in,” he said. “We had such a full roster, and now we can’t get anybody anymore.”

Both Rinderer and Matz graduated from Martins Ferry High School in 1972 and have been friends since grade school. Rinderer joined the department in March of 1975, and Matz joined in June of the same year.

Fire Chief 1 Ron Hilton said that he’s served with the duo for 30 years.

“Since I’ve been in for 30 years, I’ve seen them both as members and chiefs. They were my chiefs when I first got in, the first few years, and they always did a great job,” he said. “I think it’s fantastic that it’s been 50 years and you still see them helping with everything that we have going on throughout the fire department and making calls and still getting out on the truck. After 50 years, they’re still rolling strong.”

Matz was a fire chief from 1994-98, and Rinderer was a chief from 2001-07.

Chief 2 Justin Smith said that when he was growing up and running around, he would see Rinderer and Matz around the fire station with his father and grandfather.

“I always looked up to them and when I did finally join, it was nice to have these guys around. Fifty years — that’s hard to come by. Some people don’t even live to 50, let alone have 50 years of dedicated service and knowledge that you can take from. It’s very much appreciated for their years of service, but they got a few more,” Smith said.

Both Rinderer and Matz said they plan to continue to contribute to the volunteer fire department until they physically can’t anymore.

“We can’t do as much as we used to. We’re getting older and got new knees. We got heart problems, and we got high blood pressure. So we kind of stand back and help with safety or help load hoses, if we can, just whatever we can do,” Matz said.

He then joked that they can both tell Hilton and Smith everything that they’re doing wrong.