At a time when volunteer fire departments are struggling to maintain their ranks, Cranberry is marking its 50th year with membership numbers on the rise.

In a mutual commendation ceremony last week, leaders of the volunteer fire department credited much of their success to township supervisors who, in turn, praised the fire department for its long and consistent dedication.

"How do you do it?" Supervisor Bruce Mazzoni asked of fire company President Bruce Hezlep.

"A lot of it is this board," he answered, referring to the members of the board of supervisors and Cranberry's commitment since 1981 to dedicate tax revenue to the department. The township gives the fire department 2.5 mills of property tax revenue annually, and each mill brings about $250,000.

Mr. Hezlep and Fire Chief Bill Spiegel agreed that the consistent source of income is a key reason the department has been able to maintain its members and, in fact, grow membership by 16 between 2008 and 2009. Current membership is 120, including the ladies auxiliary, which numbers 26.

"We don't spend a lot of time on the mundane -- selling raffle tickets and doing bingos. That helps us bring people in," said the chief.

The fire company answered 639 calls in 2008 and 462 to date this year.

This year's budget is $596,667, and the 2010 budget is set at $562,885, a reduction due to the decision not to make any capital improvements in 2010, the fire officials explained. They intend to buy new apparatus in 2012.

The Cranberry volunteer fire company held its first meeting on Jan. 22, 1959; 43 people attended. The charter was obtained in June 1959.

There weren't a lot of homes in the township at that time. "But we had a lot of brush fires," Mr. Hezlep recounted.

The fire department's first piece of equipment was a 1928 Pirsch fire truck -- which remains in service.

Cranberry supervisors presented the fire company with a banner praising the department's 50 years of "dedicated service." The banner will hang this year in the township's Rochester Road municipal complex.

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