Bobby was one of the founders of our fire department."
Billy Ray Tanner grew up with Bobby Dunnaway and his sister. For more than 50 years, Dunnaway and Tanner had gotten to know each other pretty well.
“A lot of times Bobby would come up in his truck or something and I’d have the door open, and he’d come up and get him something to drink," Tanner said. Tanner’s Grocery has been open for nearly a hundred years. In the 1960s, Tanner said the Howell Volunteer Fire Department popped up across the street. The man in charge of the department, Fire Chief Bobby Dunnaway, lost his life while battling a car fire on Dec. 23.
“We’re still in shock really because it’s unbelievable," Tanner said.
It happened just two miles from the fire department on Mississippi Highway 612. Tanner said a pickup truck caught fire off the road near the bridge. Dunnaway responded. George County officials said he had some sort of medical emergency.