 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. The town of Naughty Pine is threatened with a grave danger. This danger is so great it could blow half the town off the map and kill and injure hundreds of people. No, it's not a tornado or an earthquake. It's not a flood or a freight car loaded with ammunition. It's not a great fire or an airplane out of control. What is this great danger that threatens life and property of almost every citizen in Naughty Pine? You'll find out as we tell you the story. Hank Nicola and Barney Alberts are closing their gas station for the evening. Hank is reading the meters on the gas pumps while Barney tends to other closing time duties. Hank finishes reading the gas pump meters and walks back into the garage to put the gauge stick down into the storage tanks. Hey Barney. What's the matter, Hank? Something's wrong. The gas pump meters don't agree with the storage tank gauge. How can that be, Hank? You must have made a mistake. I don't think so, Barney. I always double check my readings. How much are you off? The storage tank is 500 gallons short of the pumps. We must have pumped 500 gallons of air or else there must be something wrong with our pumps, Hank. Yeah, either our pumps or the gas truck meter. Oh, well, I guess this isn't the first time this has happened. Let's take care of it in the morning. Okay, the gas company will straighten it out anyway. Let's go home. I'm beat. Me too. I can smell the pork chops cooking from here. Bob, did you ever stop to think that we're guarding more than money? Yes, Holly, I have. We're guarding records that are more than pieces of paper. There are people in that... What's the matter, Bob? What's that smell? Smells like gasoline. Well, how could the smell of gasoline get into this bank? Bob, there's a garage next door. You don't suppose... Their gas tanks are leaking. Let's get down to the basement. Great day in the morning, Bob. Look at that stuff coming in here. It's just like water. It's running right down the storm sewer. The fumes are getting bad already. One spark in this building will go higher a kite. Let's keep calm, Bob. We've got to do this right. Yeah, you said it. I'll turn off the light switch and pull the fuses. No, let them cut the power off from outside. We can't risk a spark. Yeah, good thought. I'll call the sheriff from the fire department. You call Ed Banker. Right. Then we better open all the windows and doors so we can get the fumes out. Wow, this is a bad one. Sheriff's Beacon. What? You said it. I'll be there on the double. Shorty Jeff, get all the men down to the bank on the double. This is condition two disaster alert. Fire Department Chief Brown's Beacon. What? We'll send all available men and equipment immediately. Nelson, dispatch all equipment to the bank area. Condition two disaster alert. Bill Jefferson? Yes. Yes, I'll be right down. Stumpy, call in all the men. There's a condition two disaster alert at the bank. There's a man in charge in case of civilian disaster, Bill. We're waiting for your orders. Are the men from the filling station here yet? Not yet, but here they come now. Bill, we didn't know that our tanks were leaking. We didn't have the slightest notion that this was going to... Take it easy, Hank. Nobody's blaming you. Open up your garage. Glad you fellas didn't break in. You can't take a chance on the spot. Johnny, that gas keeps coming out. I want to take a fast look at the bank basement. How? Chief Brown, Stumpy, Gray Will, come with me. The rest of you don't move until we get back. The basement door is over here, Bill. Thanks, Chief. Boy, those fumes are strong enough to kill an iron horse. Stop here, fellas. Why, you stop here, Bill. We're not near door yet. Let's take our shoes off. Can't take a chance on the sparks. All we'd need is one. We're taking. We'd be well on our way to outer space. We'll have to use flashlights, too, Bill. Right. Let's go take a look, fellas. I'd walk right where I've got the flashlight. There must be hundreds of gallons of gas in the basement. We can't get down there, Bill. We'd be overcome in a minute. All right there, Chief. Just listen, fellas. You don't have to look to know what's going on down there. Let's get out in the street and swing into action. Chief Brown, I'm calling this a Condition A catastrophe alert. Okay, Bill. I'll call out my police reserve and cut this area off. Better ask for state troopers, Carol. Storm sewers will carry gas all the way to the river. Also, you'll have to evacuate the people in the immediate area from their home. Right. I'll get right on it and sew this area shut with a ring of men. Chief Brown, have your fumpers pull another block away and start pumping water into the storm sewers to dilute the gas. Better have Canyon City and Junction City send some of their equipment by flat car and some of their firemen. Right, Bill. We'll start pumping water right away. Hank! Barney! Well, there's plenty of ways you can help. Let's get the caps off the storage tanks in your garage. Everybody put on rubber boots. You can't take a chance on a spark. Easy does it, Barney. I'll let the cap drop on the concrete floor. I won't, Bill. Now for the other one. I'll have to get a pipe, Frank. And let mine be careful, Sonny. Ain't anxious to visit the moon. Maybe we measure other tank while waiting for Hank to come back with us. He's coming now, Gray Wolf. Here we go, fellas. Hey, don't say that, Sonny. I hope we ain't going nowhere. Me, too. I'll be real careful. Oh, I must have been super strong to jam that cap on that one. Be careful, Hank. I will, Bill. I'll be real careful. I'm sorry, fellas. I just lost ten years of my life. I didn't believe my mother when she told me I wouldn't live to be a hundred. What's the matter, fellas? Everybody's face is as white as a sheet. I sure appreciate the way you fellas are taking this. You could get real sore while I almost killed all of you. I'll forget it, Hank. In this game, I miss as good as a mile. We're used to close ones. Yeah, we sure are, Sonny. A narrow escape a day keeps you from getting hardened in the artillery. Not good something. Well, I got the cap loose. Oh, fine. Let's measure the gas and find out if anything's left in the tanks. Chief Brown, there's a thousand gallons of gas left in each tank. We got to pump it out. You know, we can't put an ordinary gas or electric pump near that garage. The places go sky-high. Besides, there's no juice for a square mile. I had it cut off. That's part of plan A. I understand, Chief. You must have an explosion-proof, high-speed, centrifugal pump. Yeah, we got one, Bill. For good of you. Fine. I'll attach you a good long hose onto it and run it from here to the tank. The pump should lift the gas, don't you think? No, no doubt about it, Bill. Let the gas run down the storm sewer and out into the river. I think you've got something there, Bill. I'll get it set up right away. Fine. We've got to get all the gas out of the tanks that we can. Or else it'll all run into the basement of the bank. Put all the residents out of this area, Bill. That's fine, Cal. Special police and the state troopers have this place blocked off for a mile around. We've got some more men tolling the streets where the storm sewers run down to the river. Good work, Cal. How about the river? What about it, Bill? Well, we can't let the gasoline catch fire on the river. I'd like to be guarded, too, until the gas gets a chance to disperse itself. You've never thought of that. You don't have any more men, even if I had thought of it. Well, deputize some of the men of the town. I know they'd be glad to help out. Now you're making with the ideas, Bill. I'll get right on it. Well, all there is to do, very well. Wait. You said it, sonny. The fire engines are flooding the sewers, which are taking the gas down to the river. The boys are pumping the gas storage tanks out as fast as they can. The sheriff has a place surrounded with men. All the folks are out of the buildings around this area. Electricity and cooking gas have been shut off. That's about all there is to be done, I reckon. Not quite something. All we can do is wait until gas is all gone down to it. That's about the size of it, fellas. Hey, what's that newspaper man doing? He's going to bank to take pictures. We've got to stop him before he flashes that bow. He could blow the whole place a mile high. Come on, let's get it. Come back here. Hey, oh! Hey, wait! Hey, wait up! Can I arrange this? Please, I do something wrong. Not yet. Take the flashball out of that flash gun. What do you mean? That's a big story. Take it out. Okay, okay. You don't need to get sore about it. You ought to know better than to take a flash picture with all the gas fumes around here. Not right. You said that bulb, all of you could blow the whole place up. Do you really think a flashbomb could do that? I do. If you got close enough to bank to take picture like you set out to do. Well, I'll be a horn toad. I never gave it a thought. I'm sorry, Rangers. I didn't mean to start anything. Oh, forget it. We know you didn't do it on purpose. You'd better save your picture taking to laugh at the gas fumes that cleared on. Oh, you said it. I don't want to get blown to bits. Nor do I want to be the cause of a thing like that. I'll see you later. Okay, bye. Bye. Say, my name's Bert Campbell. May I have an exclusive story from you later on when you have time? Sure thing. That's a promise. Nice. You know, I ain't gonna have a black hair left on my head before this thing is over? That flash bulb had gone off. You wouldn't have any hair left on your head, Stumpy. So be thankful, even if they're gray. It's like I always said. The gray hair on the head is worth six. A fella ain't got. Let's go find out how much gas is left in the starting tank. 400 gallons left in the first tank, Barney. Right. That's what the stick says, Bill. How much in this one, Hank? There's just about 400 in this one too, Bill. Closer to 375. There's still a lot of gas in there, Bill. 800 gallons in the two tanks. Right. That's 1200 less than before. I'd say we were doing all right. Four, maybe five more hours shouldn't empty tanks, Bill. Right, Gray Wolf. The gas shouldn't be leaking into the basement of the bank quite as rapidly as it was. Boy, I'd give my right arm to know how those tanks got to leaking. They're welded and supposed to be leak-proof. Well, things like this happen in the best of families, Hank. As long as nobody gets hurt, it'll be all right. Let's go outside and see how the boys are coming along. It's a good thing we got a reservoir of water to draw from, Bill. We pumped enough water to flood a lake. Yeah, imagine you have, Chief Brown. I'm proud of the way you and your men swung into action. Thanks, Bill. We try to do a top-nice job all the time. Cal, I want to thank you, too. You organized the police chain in record time. Evacuated the residents of this area quickly. Thanks, Bill. We're only as good as our commander, you know. Thanks, Cal. Commander is only as good as his men. Thanks to both of you men, we avoided disaster. I'm sure we have everything under control now. It's only a matter of time before we can all go home. Say, Bill, here come Ed Banker. He looked plenty worried. Worried? He looks plumage-aspirated. What's the matter, Ed? You look like you lost your last friend. I have, Bill. I just talked to the state banking chief, and he says I've got to pay money on demand, or I'll be technically insolvent. Gas or no gas? No. That's right. Well, hasn't the man got any sympathy for the condition of your building? Well, actually, he's right, Bill. I'm holding other people's money, and we can't expect business in this town to drop dead just because of an unfortunate experience. I see. Well, don't worry. We'll think of something. Don't worry. That's easy for you to say. You're not the banker. I've got a building full of gas fumes, and you say don't worry. Have I ever let you down before, Ed? I guess you haven't, Bill. But how are you going to get the gas fumes out of the bank building? It'll take weeks. It'll take weeks before they'll be gone all right. I'll have the building almost rid of them before morning. Bill, I can't believe it. It sounds like a fairy tale. Well, this will be one fairy tale come true. Chief Brown, let's get to a phone and call the fire commissioner at San Francisco. That's the whole story, Commissioner. May we borrow your ventilating equipment? No, your honor. How many thanks, Commissioner. You don't know how much we appreciate this. No, thanks. Yes, sir? No, we'll come to think of it. I don't. But I'll figure it out. No. Thanks again, Commissioner. We're deeply grateful. We're waiting for the plane with a crew of men. Okay. Goodbye. Let's get a crew of men and get out of the airport, Chief Brown. Jefferson, I'm on the commissioner's staff. Glad to meet you, Captain. This is Chief Brown. Hello, Captain. The crew of the flying box car is opening the cargo hatch. As soon as they've got the ramp down, we can unload the equipment. We've got two converted hose trucks carrying the air pumps. How about the portable canvas air ducts, Captain? We'll need two large trucks for those. We've got all we have. Ah, fine. We've got two large trucks here. Start loading as soon as the fire trucks are off the plane. Wonderful. They're putting a ramp down now. We've got 30 men. They'll have the plane unloaded in short order. Then we'll go to the bank and set the equipment to work so we can put some fresh air into the building. Open that basement grating carefully, fellas. The spark can still be disastrous. Ah, we'd be careful, Bill. You said it, honey. Hey, give it a tug, Gray Wolf. Okay, I'm not stuck. Must be rusted. Is it worse than opening an old tin can? You would think it's something appropriate to say something. There. Now we put canvas air duct into a basement. Right. The boys have the other ducts set up in the doorway. I can start pumping fresh air at once. The air contraption blows quite a gale, sonny. The good thing I brought fresh stick on for my way. Some of these fresh air is coming to the building now. Yes, Gray Wolf. Portable ventilating equipment is doing the trick. You go back in the rear of the building, you almost pass out from the gas cylinder. They come billowing out the windows and doors. You have plenty of good idea, Bill. I don't say you did, Gray Wolf. Bill, do you really think that banker will be able to get in here in the morning to do business? Yes, I do, old timer. I may not be able to work in here, but at least he can get at his records in the vault. What's in this one, Hank? There's just about 400 in this one, too, Bill. Closer to 375. There's still a lot of gas in there, Bill. 800 gallons in the two tanks. Right. That's 1,200 less than before. I'd say we were doing all right. Four, maybe five more hours should empty tanks, Bill. Right, Gray Wolf. The gas shouldn't be leaking into the basement of the bank quite as rapidly as it was. Boy, I'd give my right arm to know how those tanks got to leaking. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to be leak proof. Well, things like this happen in the best of families, Hank. As long as nobody gets hurt, it'll be all right. Let's go outside and see how the boys are coming along. It's a good thing we got a reservoir of water to draw from, Bill. We've pumped enough water to flood a lake. Yeah, imagine you have, Chief Brown. I'm proud of the way you and your men swung into action. Thanks, Bill. We try to do a top-nice job all the time. Well, thank you too. You organized the police chain in record time. Evacuated the residents of this area quickly. Thanks, Bill. We're only as good as our commander, you know. Oh, thanks, Cal. Commander is only as good as his men. Thanks to both of you men, we avoided disaster. I'm sure we have everything under control now. It's only a matter of time before we can all go home. So, Bill, here come Ed Banker. He looked plenty worried. Worried? He looks plumage-aspirated. What's the matter, Ed? You look like you lost your last friend. I have, Bill. I just talked to the state banking chief and he says I gotta pay money on demand or I'll be technically insolvent. Gas or no gas. Oh, that right. Well, hasn't the man got any sympathy for the condition of your building? Well, actually, he's right, Bill. I'm holding other people's money and we can't expect business in this town to drop dead just because I had an unfortunate experience. I see. Well, don't worry. We'll think of something. Don't worry. That's easy for you to say. You're not the banker. I got a building full of gas fumes and you say don't worry. Have I ever let you down before, Ed? But how are you gonna get the gas fumes out of the bank building? It'll take weeks. It'll take weeks before they'll be gone, all right? I'll have the building almost rid of them before morning. Bill, I can't believe it. It sounds like a fairy tale. A fairy tale come true. Chief Brown, let's get to a phone and call the fire commissioner at San Francisco. That's the whole story, commissioner. May we borrow your ventilating equipment? No, you are. How many thanks, commissioner. You don't know how much we appreciate this. No, thanks. Yes, sir? No, we'll come to think of it. I don't. But I'll figure it out. No. Thanks again, commissioner. We're deeply grateful. I'll be waiting for the plane with a crew of men. Goodbye. Let's get a crew of men and get out of the airport, Chief Brown. Jefferson, I'm on the commissioner's staff. Glad to meet you, Captain. This is Chief Brown. Hello, Captain. The crew of the flying box car is opening the cargo hatch. As soon as they've got the ramp down, we can unload the equipment. We've got two converted hose trucks carrying the air pumps. How about the portable canvas air ducts, Captain? We'll need two large trucks for those. We brought all we had. They're fine. We've got two large trucks here. Start loading as soon as the fire trucks are off the plane. Wonderful. They're putting a ramp down now. We've got 30 men. They'll have the plane unloaded in short order. Then we'll go to the bank and set the equipment to work so we can put some fresh air into the building. Open that basement grating carefully, fellas. The spark can still be disastrous. We be careful, Bill. You said it, honey. Give it a tug, Gray Wolf. It must be rusted. Is it worse than opening an old tin can? You would think of something appropriate to say, Sumpy. Now we put canvas air duct into a basement. Right. The boys have the other ducts set up in the doorway. I can start pumping fresh air at once. The air contraption blows quite a gale, sonny. The good thing I brought fresh stick on for my way. Sumpy's fresh air is coming to the building now. Yes, Gray Wolf. Sumpy, portable ventilating equipment is doing the trick. You go back in the rear of the building, you almost pass out from the gas room. They come billowing out the windows and doors. I'm not putting a good idea about it. I don't say you did, Gray Wolf. Bill, do you really think that banker will be able to get in here in the morning to do business? Yes, I do, old timer. I may not be able to work in here, but at least he can get at his records in the vault. He can do business temporarily in the empty store across the street if necessary. Ah, that make him happy. I wonder if in there gas tanks have run dry yet, sonny? Well, they should have. Let's find out. What's in this one, Hank? There's just about 400 in this one, too, Bill. Closer to 375. There's still a lot of gas in there, Bill. 800 gallons in the two tanks. Right. That's 1200 less than before. I'd say we were doing all right. Four, maybe five more hours should empty tanks. The gas shouldn't be leaking into the basement of the bank quite as rapidly as it was. Boy, I'd give my right arm to know how those tanks got to leaking. They're welded and supposed to be leak proof. Well, things like this happen in the best of families, Hank. As long as nobody gets hurt, it'll be all right. Let's go outside and see how the boys are coming along. It's a good thing we got a reservoir of water to draw from, Bill. We've pumped enough water to flood a lake. Yeah, imagine you have, Chief Brown. You're proud of the way you and your men swung into action? Well, thanks, Bill. We try to do a top-notch job all the time. Cal, I want to thank you, too. We organized a police chain in record time. Evacuated the residents of this area quickly. Thanks, Bill. We're only as good as our commander, you know. Thanks, Cal. Commander is only as good as his men. Thanks to both of you men, we avoided disaster. I'm sure we have everything under control now. Once only a matter of time before we can all go home. So, Bill, here come Ed Banker. He looked plenty worried. Worried? He looks plumage-asperated. What's the matter, Ed? You look like you lost your last friend. I have, Bill. I just talked to the state banking chief, and he says I've got to pay money on demand, or I'll be technically insolvent. Gas or no gas? That's right. Thank you.