CRANBERRY TWP — Many couples set out to make a difference in their community after they retire, but not all of them get the chance to save lives doing so.

But that’s what Steve and Renee Bayer of Cranberry Township are doing.

Steve Bayer handed in his application to become a volunteer firefighter with the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company the same day as his retirement, while Renee Bayer was sworn in last month as the latest fire police officer with the department.

The husband and wife, both 60, have different roles in the department.

Steve Bayer often finds himself on the front lines fighting fires, while Renee works diverting traffic and securing accident scenes to ensure the safety of the people involved.

The couple has called Cranberry home since 1986 and raised their two grown children here. It only seemed right, they said, to give back to a community that has given them so much over the years.

“It’s very much about helping people within the community,” Renee Bayer said.

The couple moved to the township when Steve Bayer took a job with MSA, a company heavily involved in making firefighting equipment and breathing apparatuses.

However, he worked in another department and rarely got involved in that side of the company. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious.

“Ever since I was a kid, just like every kid, I wanted to grow up to be a firefighter,” he said. “This was something I was planning years beforehand. The day I retired I submitted my application.”

He retired last year after nearly three decades with MSA and quickly jumped into his new role with the fire department.

He expected a culture shock of sorts when he started training to become a firefighter, but that was a feeling that didn’t last long because of the camaraderie he encountered.

“I thought it would be a bigger shock than it was,” he said. “The firefighter family is truly a family. They were all very helpful, very welcoming people. Everybody was willing to teach me something.”

If anything, the only shock Steve Bayer had after joining was the personalities of the people he encountered in the department.

“Everyone thinks firefighters are wild and crazy people, but they are incredibly conservative,” Steve Bayer said. “It’s really a neat organization.”

Maybe it was her husband’s positive experience that drove Renee Bayer to become a fire police officer. Or maybe it was because she spent an entire career in occupational therapy and wanted to continue helping people in retirement.

“I don’t consider myself retired,” she said. “I figured I could sit at home (in retirement) or go off and do something special.”

The Bayers are thrilled being part of the organization, and the feeling seems to be mutual.

Chief Todd Rice has worked with the Bayers for more than a year and said that they are some of the most enthusiastic members of the company.

The fire company has had couples join together in the past, although Rice said those couples usually join at a younger age.

“We’ve had younger couples but as far as retired couples, it’s unusual,” he said.

It wasn’t hard to get used to the couple hanging around the fire station, though.

“They’re very nice people, willing to do anything to help you out,” Rice said.

Renee Bayer said the couple’s involvement is more than just a temporary action. Instead, the two plan on making the fire company a focal point of their retirement.

“I hope we can continue for many years to come,” she said.