SLIPPERY ROCK — After 58 years of being a volunteer firefighter, Ron Steele shows no sign of stopping.

“It’s fun being a volunteer,” Steele, 75, said.

Steele is a captain and secretary of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company. He initially joined in 1957. His father and uncle were members of the company, and Steele said he joined with a group of young men.

“There were six of us that joined all together,” Steele said. “It was something to do.”

Steele and a couple others at that time used to deliver groceries. If the siren went off during work, he said the groceries would not get delivered.

He graduated from Slippery Rock High School in 1957. He served four years in the U.S. Navy starting in 1958. He was stationed in Rhode Island and Virginia, and this was the only time he has been away from the fire company.

Over the years, Steele has held numerous titles, including chief, assistant chief, captain, secretary and president.

“I’ve held most of them,” Steele said.

He said he recommends to some of the younger firefighters to try to serve as chief. The chief is in charge of fire scenes, is the head of training and is in charge of equipment maintenance.

“It’s a lot of learning; a lot of responsibility,” Steele said.

When he was president of the company, he was in charge of the administrative side of things, making sure that bills got paid.

Over the years, a lot has changed at the company. For one, required training has become much more extensive.

“Training has really changed,” Steele said. “Back then, you learned from the older guys.”

He said the company has grown since he started. In 1957, the company had two fire trucks. Today, it has six. When he started, the company did not have a rescue team. Initially, the funeral homes handled ambulance services. In 1974, the company started its rescue team. Today, it has three ambulances.

When he started, there was no countywide 911. At the time, the boiler house on SRU’s campus served as a fire phone because it was staffed 24 hours a day. Workers there would take information and activate the siren. Later, the fire phone was relocated to the SRU police station.

The 911 system started in 1969 and went countywide in 1970.

The number of firefighters at the company also has changed. It currently has 30 active firefighters.

“It went down; now its going back up,” Steele said, noting an uptick of new, younger members.

Memorable fires over the years include the blaze that destroyed the Roxy Theater in 1978. He recalled leaving the fire hall with another firefighter and smelling the smoke.

Another is the fire that destroyed a building at the former Kiester Road Apartments. Steele had to be taken to the hospital from that fire after inhaling some smoke.

“We lost one whole complex,” Steele said.

He said it can be a challenge getting emergency calls during all hours of the day.

“It’s a strain on your family,” Steele said. “Your wife cooks this beautiful meal for you, and you sit down and then the whistle blows.”

In older days, he said he would go every time he got a call. Now, he said it depends on how serious the call sounds, or if it seems like extra manpower is needed.

He has an emergency scanner at his house, which is on all day and all night.

“I can go to sleep, but I’ll wake up when our tones go off,” Steele said.

Steele still goes on fire calls, though he mostly acts as a driver or pump operator.

A couple of years ago, he had to have knee replacement, which slowed him down for a while, but he said he is doing better.

However, he is not the oldest member of the company. His wife, Grace, is 80 years old and serves as a relief treasurer. In the past, she served as an EMT and paramedic for the company.

He worked in the safety department at Slippery Rock University for 26 years, retiring at age 62.

In addition to his work at the fire company, Steele is active elsewhere in the community.

Steele served on Slippery Rock borough council starting in 1991 and retired in 2007. He eventually ran again and has served on council as vice president since 2012.

He also is a member of Slippery Rock Development and is the equipment manager for SRU’s football team.

“You’ve got to stay busy. You can’t just sit at home. I get antsy after three or four hours at home,” Steele said.

Between Steele and his wife, they have seven children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Founded in 1907, the company covers Brady, Cherry, Slippery Rock and Worth townships and Slippery Rock and West Liberty in Butler County as well as Liberty Township in Mercer County, Plain Grove Township in Lawrence County and a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 79.

In 2014, it responded to 1,200 calls.