"I joined when I was 18," recalled Reda, a lifelong borough resident. "I would help with fundraising and picking up apparatus. I couldn't ride the engines, because I had to be 21."

That was 50 years ago. Even though Reda and Vander Voort don't answer fire calls anymore, they still get excited when they see a fire truck driving past their street or hear an emergency call on the scanner.

"Once it is in you, it's a part of you that never dies," said Reda, 68.

Reda and Vander Voort, who still attend fire meetings and help with the department's fundraising efforts, were honored recently by the Fire Department for their 50 years of service. Both are members of the oldest fire company in the borough, Fire Company 1.

"I look back and I ask myself, 'Where did the time go?' " said Vander Voort, 72. "I don't know."

West Paterson's assistant fire chief, Joseph Macones, said Reda's and Vander Voort's dedication inspired him to become a firefighter. He said Reda taught him how to ride the apparatus, and Vander Voort was a good training instructor.

"[Vander Voort] used to live around the corner from the firehouse and he used to be the first one in when a call came in," recalled Macones, who has been a West Paterson firemen for more than 40 years. "Art is a businessman in town and when the fire alarm went off, he would close his shop for hours at a time."

In the span of their firefighting career, the men have seen the borough go from a sleepy hamlet to a bustling suburb with multifamily housing and major highway, retail, and office development.

They have battled hundreds of fires and responded to many other emergencies.

Vander Voort, a retired PSE&G cable splicer, remembers his first fire. It was a blaze on Garret Mountain, where there were only a few houses.

"The first fire call was a brush fire," he said. "Back then, there were a lot of brush fires up on the hill where there are developments now."

Among Reda's most memorable moments was when the West Paterson Volunteer Fire Department was called into Paterson to assist city firefighters during the riots in the late Sixties.

"People were throwing cans at us," said Reda, the owner of Reda & Sons Fuel Co. on McBride Avenue. "It was the first time in my volunteer fire career that I thought, 'What am I doing here?' "

Among the changes the firefighters have seen over the years is the increased use of high-tech equipment.

"Years ago, we used to go to burning buildings without any breathing apparatus," Reda said. "All the equipment today is much, much better than years ago to protect the firefighter."

The men also point out that when they started volunteering, firefighters learned on the job and didn't have to go to the Passaic County Fire Academy to take courses. Although they agree with the added training, it also makes it harder for people to become volunteers.

"Today, to become a firefighter as a volunteer, you have to have more than 100 hours in the fire academy," said Vander Voort. "That is something we didn't have to do 50 years ago. You learned everything on the job."

As a way to build up the dwindling ranks of the fire department, the borough began the Junior Firefighters Program last year. Like regular volunteers, junior members, who are ages 16 and 17, participate in drills, learn the equipment's function, and ride fire vehicles to emergencies.

The teenagers are not allowed to put out fires or go into burning buildings. They also are not allowed to handle large equipment such as the Jaws of Life or chain saws.

Vander Voort, a grandfather of six, said the program has been successful and that some teenagers have expressed interest in Fire Company 1.

Another recruiting tool has been the Length of Service Program, which West Paterson started last year. The program stems from a 1998 state law that lets municipalities offer volunteer firefighters and emergency workers a retirement package as a recruitment and retention tool.

The program allows municipalities to set aside $100 to $1,150 per year per active volunteer in a tax-deferred fund, to be collected upon retirement.

Reda and Vander Voort said they support the retirement program.

"There should be an incentive to keep the volunteers," Vander Voort said.

As a member of the West 34th Street firehouse, Reda served as a lieutenant, captain, and assistant chief.

During his tenure, Vander Voort held numerous positions, including sergeant-at-arms, second lieutenant, lieutenant, treasurer, and captain. Although Vander Voort stopped answering fire calls two years ago, he is still very much involved in other ways. He is treasurer of the Firemen's Relief Association, which helps the widows of firemen in need of assistance.

"This company has been my heart and soul," Vander Voort said."Most of my years have been spent here."