PINETOWN — The cooks for Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department’s biannual fundraiser take their barbecue seriously. There’s no cooking over gas: these guys manned the charcoal through the night, preparing to serve up 13 pigs and 900 chicken halves by 11 a.m. Saturday.

“When you cook pork on gas, it’s not barbecue; it’s roasted pork with vinegar-based seasoning,” said lifetime Pinetown VFD member and barbecue pitmaster Doug Boyd.

Boyd, along with many other volunteer firefighters, pitches in to cook for the masses twice a year. The meal is simple — barbecue, grilled chicken or a combination of both, along with stewed potatoes, coleslaw and hushpuppies — but the purpose behind these fundraisers is service to community.

The money raised is used to supplement the tax dollars given to the department by the county, allowing the squad to make purchases or maintain buildings in ways beyond the normal budget. This year, the money is going to be used to create a greater presence at the Long Acre Substation on N.C. Highway 32.

“Our goals this year is, within the next year, we’re going to have built a new substation in Long Acre,” said Pinetown volunteer and Washington EMS Battalion Chief Doug Bissette. “We’re just going to replace what we have and combine the fire station and community building to have one building.”

To achieve that goal, the department is asking that supporters make a minimum $8 donation for each plate at the fundraiser. The Pinetown VFD Ladies Auxiliary will also be selling desserts for set prices, according to Bissette.

The event is known to sell out of barbecue, and by 11 a.m., the line usually stretches out the door of the building nearly to North Boyd Road, many yards away, Bissette said.

Bissette said that if the food does run out, or supporters can’t make it to the barbecue plate fundraiser, there’s always the option of going to the Pinetown VFD turkey shoots taking place at 7 p.m. on the next three Saturdays at the Long Acre Substation — it’s $5 per rifle, shotgun or pistol round.

Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department is located at 7262 N. Boyd Road.