LUCEDALE (AP) — A volunteer fire chief in southeast Mississippi has died while responding to a vehicle on fire.

WLOX-TV reports Bobby Dunnaway, chief of the Howell Volunteer Fire Department, died Sunday after he collapsed at the scene of the fire.

Dunnaway’s cause of death remains unclear, George County officials describe it as a medical emergency.

Residents of the Howell community, near the Alabama-Mississippi state line southeast of Lucedale, say Dunnaway was one of the founders of the fire department and its longtime chief.

A funeral and burial are set for today for Dunnaway.