ON THE COVER
David “ DJ ” Barfield Jr . enjoys serving his community whether responding to a call for the Causeyville Volunteer Fire Department or sitting alongside the track as part of Whynot Motorsports Park ’ s rescue team . “ It feels good to give back to the community and to help other people ,” Barfield said .
Like other volunteers , Barfield works a full-time job as a welder for the Lauderdale County Road Department . In addition , he donates countless hours of his time responding to structure fires , grass fires , car accidents and medical emergencies in the community . Those calls can come anytime during work hours , on weekends or as soon as he sits down to eat .
Unexpected calls waking him from sleep are usually his least favorite .
“ When you get up at 2 or 3 o ’ clock in the morning to fight a house fire knowing that you have to be at work the next morning , it is not fun at that point ,’ admits Barfield , but added that is part of the job .
“ If you only get two hours of sleep or five minutes of sleep , then you get up and go to work the next day because that is just what we do ,” he said .
Good calls more than make up for the middle-of-the-night calls and are his favorite times of volunteering .
“ When we get called out to a structure fire or a brush fire or a wreck , and we go and everybody does what they are supposed to , everybody does a good job , and the victim is actually okay and nobody on our side gets hurt , then that is what we say is a good call ,” he said .
Barfield joined Causeyville Fire Department at age 18 shortly after graduating from Southeast Lauderdale High School in 2012 . He and a friend , David Dearman , were hanging out one day when one of them suggested joining the fire department . Thinking about it , they decided , “ That would be a great idea .” Meeting with the fire chief , the two filled out paperwork . While waiting on the approval , they were driving home one day when they came upon fire fighters battling a structure fire .
“ We stopped and we helped and after that it has just seemed like second nature to always help out and give back to the community ,” Barfield said .
His dad , David Barfield Sr ., joined the Causeyville Fire Department about a year after him . His mother , Edna Barfield , also is a member .
More than 300 men and women support the 17 volunteer fire departments across the county and are invaluable to their communities , said Lauderdale County Fire Coordinator Allan Dovar .
It would be difficult to provide fire and rescue services to the entire county without the help of volunteers , he noted . On average , these fire departments respond to approximately 2,500 calls a year .
“ They are out here every day selflessly giving of their time and themselves ,” Dovar said .
Besides calls , Barfield dedicates many hours to training through the department and the Mississippi State Fire Academy . He is a Level I and a Level II certified firefighter and has received numerous training certificates . Fundraising is another duty for volunteer fire fighters .
The Causeyville department ’ s largest annual fundraiser , called Country Day , is held at the station in November and features a car show and live music . The fire department sells meat plates .
“ We raise money to buy equipment that we need that is not funded by the county ,” Barfield said . “ The county does furnish the trucks and a lot of our stuff , but we have to fund the extra stuff
that we want like different nozzles or certain helmets and boots . Turnout gear is very expensive .”
To decompress from his volunteer role , Barfield enjoys working on cars . He is a member of New Hope Baptist Church and serves at Whynot Motorsports Park as a member of the racetrack ’ s rescue team , which is present at every race in case an emergency occurs .
With the exception of better fire equipment , Barfield said little has changed over the years except social media .
“ Every once and a while we have had people coming through taking pictures at the scene and posting them on social media . That is a big no for us ,” he said . “ You could be posting a picture of a wreck on social media and a family member of that person could see it before they are notified .”
These days they try to keep people pushed back away from scenes and out of the way . While Barfield has never experienced a narrow escape , one time a small part of a ceiling fell on him and another fire fighter when they were standing inside the structure ’ s back door .
“ It wasn ’ t bad . We were fine ,” he said . “ It kind of got our attention more than anything .” Danger is not something Barfield seems to think about . “ If the pager goes off , then you ’ ve got to go . You don ’ t think about the consequences . You don ’ t think about what could happen to you ,” he said . “ You just get in the truck and go . You go face whatever the call happens to be .” M www . meridianstar . com
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