Buxton Volunteer Fire Department honors Bryan Perry for 50 years of service

In the days before a surprise celebration for 50-year Buxton Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) member Bryan Perry, Deputy Chief Jeffrey DelMonte asked the 21-member crew for one word that described the honoree.

“I won’t read them all, but I’ll hit on some of the highlights,” said DelMonte at the Tuesday night event. “Sharp. Expert. Hard-nosed. Tough (but fair). Legend. Respectable… [and] Chief.

“He’s wearing a shirt right now that says ‘firefighter,’ but we still revere Bryan Perry as the Chief,” he added.

Tuesday evening’s celebration at the Buxton VFD fire station attracted a crowd of roughly 100 people, which included county officials, fire departments from up and down the Outer Banks, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Mike Williams, and renowned former members of the Buxton’s 60-year-old fire department.

The Buxton VFD is one of the oldest fire departments on Hatteras Island, (second only to the Hatteras Village VFD), and was established in 1964 after a deadly incident in Buxton close to the present-day Sandbar & Grille.

Since its inception, the Buxton VFD has only had four chiefs –  Calvin Burrus, Johnny Conner, current Chief Carroll Midgett, Jr., and Bryan Perry, who held the position for 43 of his 50 years.

“In the old days, you had an election, and the chief would run, and someone would run against him,” said former 1974-1981 Chief Johnny Conner, who was Perry’s immediate predecessor. “Well, I really messed him up, because the night before the 1981 election, I backed out. I don’t know if he’s forgiven me for that yet, but he has really done a super job, so it definitely worked out in the end.”

During the evening, colleagues, friends, and family members shared memories and praise for Perry, and the accolades were abundant and well-deserved.

In 2019, Perry was awarded the Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year Award from the Eastern North Carolina Firefighter’s Association, and months later, he also received the 2020 Fire Chief of the Year Award from the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs.

He has responded to thousands of calls in the past five decades – as the Buxton VFD receives an estimated 80 actionable calls every year – and many current and former firefighters attested at Tuesday’s celebration that Perry was the inspiration behind their own firefighting careers.

Zack Watson, who owns Hatteras Island Seafood Boils alongside his wife Tricia, recalled how Perry was instrumental in creating his roughly 20-year commitment to firefighting. (Appropriately, the Watsons also supplied the food for the celebration, with heaping trays of Low Country Boil fare that wowed the crowd.)

“Chief Perry was my first fire chief, and that’s how I started my whole career,” said Watson, who later became a paid firefighter in Charleston, S.C., before he returned to the Outer Banks, where he still works with the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department as well as the Avon VFD.

“’[Perry] told me some words when I left here to go to work back in my [Charleston] hometown, and they stuck with me, and I repeat those words all the time… ‘Give me an inch and a half, and a good crew, and you can fight the devil.’”

Dare County Manager Bobby Outten recalled how he first met his lifelong friend Perry 40 years ago when they were working together at the Cape Hatteras Water Association.

“I hadn’t been there very long, and another guy came in with a big bushy mustache and long blonde hair hanging down to his shoulders,” said Outten. “The two of us and others worked on that Board for a while, trying to get it online, and do the things that we had to do to make it professional.”

“What made it rewarding for me was to watch Bryan and his dedication to Hatteras Island,” added Outten. “He was dedicated to that Board, and put all [his efforts] into it, as he did in the church, as he did in the fire department, and as he did in everything.”

Dare County Commissioner Danny Couch also touched on Perry’s dedication to the island, and his inherent ability to be a leader for the Buxton VFD.

“When you look at [Bryan], and the things that make good leaders, there’s wisdom – you can check that box. Understanding – you can check that box. The ability to delegate – you can check that box,” said Couch.

Many attendees also credited Perry’s wife Susie for her years of patience as Bryan stayed committed to the Buxton VFD.

“Miss Susie, you also made a commitment… the family also makes a commitment as soon as we sign up,” said Chief Midgett, Jr. “If the family is not in it like we are, it doesn’t work. So, I’d like to applaud our families and thank Miss Susie and [Perry’s] family for all those years.”

Perry’s daughter, Natalie Kavanagh, held the attendees’ attention as she noted that she had also been a member of the Buxton VFD family for decades.

“All of you guys have made so many great memories for me and my family, and I’ve learned lessons from all of you who were there while I was growing up,” said Kavanagh. “You guys have all been an important part of my family.

“There has not been a time in my life that I haven’t been proud of my dad, and because I was very young when he became chief of the Buxton Volunteer Fire Department, his role as chief was a large part of my life,” she said.

Kavanagh outlined how Perry had demonstrated over the years that being a firefighter was miles more than responding to emergency calls. It also entailed meetings, constant training and classes, community outreach initiatives, building fire stations and maintaining fire trucks, and many other day-to-day and more mundane tasks that don’t make the headlines.

“It’s a gift he has, making firemen understand that even if you are not actively saving a life at the moment, all of those things that you do to train, to be prepared, and to have the things you need is saving a life throughout the years ahead,” said Kavanagh.

After being presented with a golden axe, Perry thanked the past and present Buxton VFD crew members, noting how the original crew shaped the current Buxton VFD, and was ahead of its time when it came to forming a well-trained and well-educated fire department.

“Johnny [Conner] always had a pursuit of knowledge,” said Perry, adding that in the early days, the crew would see announcements in national magazines about “new” firefighting advancements that had already been implemented at the small-town Buxton VFD station.

“I think those guys in the beginning established what I’ve tried to continue doing, and what the boys are doing now,” said Perry. “All the guys – the senior firefighters, the Assistant Chief, everybody – are trying to do the best they can… when that call comes in, they want to get the job done.”

After the presentation, Perry confessed that despite the months of planning and dozens of community members knowing about the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, he was genuinely surprised.

“I didn’t have a clue,” said Perry. “But there are people here I haven’t seen in years, and this is unbelievable… it’s just incredible.”