Columbus, GA: Off-duty firefighter Richard Barfield Jr. helps save seven after head-on crash

Credit: Danny / Any County News · Source: Piedmont Columbus Regional, Jan. 20, 2026.

COLUMBUS, GA - Off-duty Columbus Fire and EMS firefighter and advanced EMT Richard Barfield Jr. stopped at a severe head-on collision and helped save seven people, carrying children from the wreckage and clearing an unconscious driver's airway.

Piedmont Columbus Regional says Barfield found a young girl trying to crawl out of the first car and carried her away from traffic, then broke a window to free her little brother. When the children's mother said her four-month-old son was still missing, he crawled back into the car, freed the baby and carried him to safety.

Told the father was trapped, unconscious and not breathing, Barfield cleared debris from the driver's airway so he could breathe again, used trauma kits on a head wound and helped cut the pinned driver free when more crews arrived. He kept triaging patients and organizing the scene until they were on the way to the hospital.

Piedmont Columbus Regional named Barfield its First Friday Hero for January 2026. Source and photos: Piedmont Columbus Regional news release, Jan. 20, 2026 (also via Now Georgia).

Sources: Piedmont Columbus Regional news release, Jan. 20, 2026 · Now Georgia

Images: Piedmont Columbus Regional photos of Richard Barfield Jr. at a Columbus Fire and EMS engine and at his First Friday Hero presentation. No AI-generated images.

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