CHESTER — A maze of dirt roads led to the iron gates of Keefer Ranch.

A slight drizzle of rain served as a blessing for those fighting the Dixie Fire since it started July 13. Shallow puddles were left scattered along the roads Tuesday afternoon. The smoldering remains of nearby controlled backburns cast a thin veil of smoke throughout the surrounding forest.

On the grounds of Keefer Ranch, the first homestead in Plumas County, each building remains unscathed. The oldest edifice — a barn built by the Dotta family back in 1867 — still stands tall. It’s believed to be the oldest standing barn in California.

The oldest standing barn in California located at Keefer Ranch in Plumas County stands tall on Tuesday afternoon. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

The longstanding history of the barn and the rest of Keefer Ranch was worth saving for a group of eight men. With the flames of the Dixie Fire looming nearby and a little too close for comfort, the group came together to help protect and keep a watchful eye on the barn and the rest of the property.

“The fire, even when it was five miles away, I was scared,” said Keefer Ranch foreman Felix Gonzalez. “I’m not scared anymore. I was scared the first day.”

The Dixie Fire has already burned over 240,000 acres and destroyed 42 structures. As of Friday morning, 10,657 structures remain threatened.

Steve Graham of Magalia opens the iron gate of Keefer Ranch on Tuesday afternoon in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

Gonzalez, who lives in Durham, has been the ranch manager for almost 18 years. In addition to the barn, the property also houses two other outbuildings and a large home — a home Gonzalez built in 1998. He has worked for the Horning family for 35 years.

Swiss-Italian immigrants Anton and Josephine Dotta built the homestead just outside Chester in 1867. One of their daughters, Mary Dotta, married William Keefer of Chico, thus the name Keefer Ranch.

The ranch was a dairy farm. The hay used to feed the cows was also harvested on the land.

The ranch is currently owned by Chuck Horning. A lake filled with trout, a collection of bee boxes and open serene land make up the ranch today.

From the outside, the barn looks unassuming. But from the inside, the intricate wooden beams that sit overhead hold over 100 years of history and craftsmanship.

Wooden beams are seen inside the oldest standing barn in California at Keefer Ranch on Tuesday afternoon in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

“I feel comfortable because whatever is necessary to do, I do it,” Gonzelez said. “I try to preserve every little piece they’ve got.”

When the Dixie Fire began creeping closer to the property, Gonzalez said he worried.

“I didn’t sleep for two, three days because I was worried I was going to lose the house,” Gonzalez said.

The orange glow of the flames from the Dixie Fire could be seen from a distance, Gonzalez said.

A framed photo of Chuck Horning, the owner of Keefer Ranch near Chester, is displayed inside the home’s kitchen Tuesday afternoon in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

Henry Lomeli of Sacramento River Ecotours is good friends with the owner of Keefer Ranch. Lomeli called on friends Steen Henriksen and Steve Graham for help. The cavalry arrived with a bobcat tractor, a mini-excavator and a water tank.

“We dropped what we were doing to join the party,” Graham said.

Henricksen arrived with a water tank filled with 325 gallons. They used the water to spray down the barn’s exterior every two to three hours to protect it from any flying embers. They took the pile of scrap sheet metal and created a barrier along the base in case embers blew underneath.

Burned pine needles and ash scattered on the patio of the home can still be seen.

Gonzalez also called on help from two friends. The group was made up of Lomeli, Henriksen, Graham, Gonzalez, C. Bryan Graves, Victor and Benito Estrada and Alejandro Camyo. None of them are firefighters.

Steen Henriksen of Chico points out the handmade nails on the longest standing barn in California on Tuesday afternoon at Keefer Ranch in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

“We’re nuts. We’re friends (of Lomeli’s) who can do just about anything,” Henriksen said. “When a friend calls you for help, you go.”

The group worked from sunrise to sundown trying to make the ranch as safe as possible. They chopped down tree limbs, cleared out logs and tried to create as much defensible space between the buildings as possible.

“We took down the limbs so that when pine needles on the ground catch on fire, it doesn’t walk up the trees,” Graham said.

Felix Gonzalez, the Keefer Ranch manager, talks about the work that was done to protect the oldest standing barn in California from the Dixie Fire on Tuesday afternoon at Keefer Ranch in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

The barn already escaped a fire in 2008, Henriksen said. The only damage was some slight charring on the bottom corner of the backside of the building.

Henriksen said he loves old buildings. Square-headed nails and wooden dowels hold up the boards and keep the structure together. The barn currently holds antiques of all kinds like handmade hayforks and washing machines from the 1920s. He couldn’t help but be in complete awe of the barn.

“It’s like a cathedral,” Henriksen said. “It’s pretty damn impressive.”

One night, Henriksen said the fire was about a mile away. They watched a tree go up in flames in the distance.

“That’s when we felt this was a little different all of sudden,” Henriksen said.

Felix Gonzalez, the ranch foreman at Keefer Ranch, points to an old photo of the property Tuesday afternoon in Plumas County. (Sharon Martin — Enterprise-Record) 

Henriksen said he already had a plan to take five wooden boards from the barn with him if they evacuated “so we could have some historical pieces left.”

Henriksen lives in Chico and Graham lives in Magalia. Both have seen the amount of destruction wildfires have caused Butte County. They didn’t want to see more historic buildings go up in flames, which is why they came to help.

“We need to win one,” Henriksen said.

Lomeli also credited Collins Pines, a private timber company, for its forest management of the surrounding trees nearby Keefer Ranch.

“It’s a special place in California pioneer history and worth the sacrifice,” Lomeli wrote in an Instagram post. “Some things are priceless and worth saving. Keefer Ranch is one of those places.”

Gonzalez said he feels Keefer Ranch is now safe from the fire and will return home soon. Gonzalez and the rest of the group have stayed on the property keeping an eye on the fire for over 10 days.

“I’m so proud of the house. We thought we would lose the whole thing.” Gonzalez said. “With all this help it’s beautiful. I believe we did a really tremendous and big job.”