Volunteer firefighters urge public to abide by county burn bans

WEBSTER COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – As of right now, 31 counties in Mississippi are currently under a burn ban following threats of an upcoming cold front that the Mississippi Forestry Commission says could encourage wildfire growth.

Wildfires and brush fires not only devastate the land, they also put a lot of stress on firefighters– especially volunteer firefighters in rural communities.

“From day-to-day, we may have no calls, but on another day maybe three, four, or five calls,” said Henderson.

Casey Henderson is the Fire Chief at Walthall Volunteer Fire Department in Webster County.

He said being a fireman is stressful, but it can be even more stressful when the county is under a burn ban.

“Here in the last week or two, we’ve been to 110-acre fire and an 80-acre fire. So, with increasing call volume comes more demand to our members who are volunteers here to respond to more calls,” said Henderson.

The problem is sometimes there aren’t enough volunteers to meet the rising demand.

Since the Walthall department is strictly volunteer-based, most of the firemen have other full-time jobs.

“You know, sometimes they’ll go at the drop of a dime, leave their jobs, leave the fields, and they come run into calls, and sometimes they just can’t,” said Henderson.

Webster County Fire Coordinator Barry Rushing said this type of work environment can sometimes be unhealthy.

“Stress on firefighters causes heart attacks and that’s one of the number one causes of firefighter deaths is stress on-scene,” said Rushing.

He said the public must adhere to all burn bans.

“Any open flame is prohibited. That could cause a major fire as dry as it is in Webster County. A terrible Hazard,” said Rushing.

Even with the added stress, Henderson said firefighting is a special calling.

“It’s just something that that that I’ll never give up, You know, I even told the guys here, you know, if elected, I’m still going to be here, I’m still going to come to calls, I’m still gonna go into burning houses and car wrecks, you know, we started… a lot of these guys here started at 18 years old, and we’re still here. I plan on being here for a lifetime, It is rewarding to be able to go and help,” said Henderson.

With deer season opening and more people in the forests across the state, the Mississippi Forestry Commission encourages caution around ignition sources, such as discarding cigarette butts and parking vehicles over dry grass.