On March 3, 2022, while single-handedly fighting a brushfire in Ward, Alabama, 85-year-old Fire Chief Fredy Reeves’ clothes caught fire, but that didn’t stop him. Neighborhood folks came to help, and Chief Reeves drove five miles, retrieved a fire engine, returned to the scene, and called an ambulance for himself. The fire was extinguished, but it left Chief Reeves with severe burns on the back of both legs, from ankle to hip, going into the muscle tissue on the left leg. His son, Dexter Reeves, was at work when the call came out. As he was heading towards Ward, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office relayed a message to him that his dad was en route to Rush Hospital. He headed to Rush and waited for his dad in the ER. Chief Reeves was still concerned about the fire, but Dexter assured him everything was okay.

Fredy Reeves died 22 days after the brushfire had burned him. Physicians at Rush transferred him to the JMS Burn and Reconstruction Center in Jackson, Mississippi, where he fought hard to survive. After multiple surgeries for skin grafting, his heart gave out.

In addition to being a firefighter, Chief Reeves was a lifelong Gideon and lay speaker for the United Methodist Church. He was quick to lend a helping hand and share his deep faith in God with anyone who crossed his path. Fredy Carrel Reeves was born April 3, 1936, in Crestview, Florida, to Jesse Rudolph Reeves and Vallie Helms Reeves. He married Ann Radcliffe in 1957, and they moved to Ward in 1963. He worked as a forester for the American Can Company for a quarter century but is best known in Ward for starting the fire department, using a garden hose to put out wildfire that threatened a trailer on the west side of town. He and his son followed up, building a homemade firetruck that held 250 gallons of water.

Alabama officials visited Ward to get its firefighters the training they needed to be certified as an official volunteer operation. Chief Reeves, his wife Ann, and his son Dexter took firefighting and EMS courses over the next two years. Chief Reeves then helped nearby communities start their own fire departments. Through the years, he stayed active in the Ward VFD and regularly assisted other fire departments as needed.

Fredy C. Reeves was buried March 30, following a firefighter funeral service at Cokes Chapel Cemetery in Ward, Alabama. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, his sister, and three brothers. He is survived by his brother, Johnny; his children, Randy, Dexter, and Carol Ann; and his grandchildren, Jessica, Tommy, Kristy, Andy, Megan, Melissa, and Shannon.