PINETOWN — Firefighters on the roster of Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department show up to the same fires every fall. But these fires aren’t blazing out of control; they’re quite contained, providing just the right temperature for approximately 900 chicken halves and 11 pigs on the grill.

Saturday is Pinetown VFD’s annual fall barbecue fundraiser at the station. Starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until the food runs out, which is often quickly, the event is a big community draw that just keeps getting bigger.

“We first started doing it we were selling around 400 plates on a Saturday,” said Pinetown’s safety officer Todd Boyd. “Now we’re up to around 1,600 plates.”

Boyd is instrumental in the cooking process, and is referred to by some as the “man behind the cooking,” come barbecue fundraiser time. While Boyd’s brother, Adrian Boyd, and Pinetown farmer Larry Boyd man the grills overnight, Todd Boyd is all about the chopping, the mixing and the flavoring.

“Everything that’s seasoned out there, I do it,” Boyd laughed.

In addition to finely seasoned fare from the grill, potatoes, coleslaw and hushpuppies come with each plate. It’s a donation-only affair and diners are welcome to eat in or take their plates out. Pinetown VFD Auxiliary holds a simultaneous bake sale, lining long tables with cookies, pies, brownies, cakes and more.

Boyd said the purpose of the event is simply to augment what the squad receives from the county with money they can spend on new equipment and maintaining their building. He said the next big project is to raise enough money to have a new building constructed at Pinetown’s Longacre substation, the squad with which Pinetown merged after Longacre rosters dwindled.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun,” Boyd said.

Boyd said it really is about the community: the volunteer firefighters serve the Pinetown residents; the residents support that effort in turn.

“A lot of community folks come out and sit and talk, folks who don’t really see each other that much,” Boyd said. “It’s a community event.”

That sense of community is reflected in the squad itself: Boyd joined the squad 25 years ago, along with a bunch of friends. He said, now, they’re looking for other, younger volunteers to sign up.

“What got me in it was some of my best friends are in it. It’s a whole group of us — we’ve been in it all our adult lives. It’s good camaraderie, we have a good time, and we’re serving the community,” Boyd said. “We do need some new members; we need some new blood.”

Plates at Saturday’s dinner go for a suggested donation of $8; desserts are priced separately. Pinetown VFD is located at 7262 N. Boyd Road, Pinetown.