Outstanding firefighter honoree knew his calling from a young age

By MIKE BOLLINGER

Four Oaks Fire Chief Barry Stanley has wanted to be a firefighter almost as long as he can remember.

“When I was in first grade, 5 or 6 years old, my neighbor’s house burned. The fire department came out, and all I can remember is talking with the firemen and holding one of their helmets. It was extremely heavy,” he said.

That experience may have sown the seeds for Stanley to become a firefighter, but he said a high school friend who was on the Benson Fire Department really “got the ball rolling and made me want to join.” He applied to the Four Oaks Fire Department as soon as he turned 18. He was still a senior at South Johnston High School at the time.

“I went off to N.C. State. I was finally accepted to the department when I was 20 years old. It took me two years to get off the waiting list,” Stanley said.

As it turned out, when he joined the department there was a special connection to the fireman whose helmet he held as a young child. “I found out when I got on the chief, Gerald Lee, was the fireman whose helmet I held that day when my neighbor’s house burned,” Stanley said.

Before becoming chief in Four Oaks, he served as lieutenant and assistant chief. In addition, from 2003-05, he was a fulltime firefighter in Morrisville. In addition to his duties with the fire department, Stanley is also the Four Oaks public works director. “Between my full-time job with the town and the fire department, I stay busy. I have a lot of good employees,” he said.

Stanley has been chief since May 2007 and first joined the department March 13, 1995.

He and his wife, Cheryl, have been married for 21 years. They have four daughters, Sarah, 18; Aileen, 16; Katie, 14 and Beth, 12. “My wife is very supportive and understanding. There have been many times we have been getting ready to go out and I have had to leave, and there have been many times we have been out to eat or doing something and I have had to get up and leave,” Stanley said.

His children are following in his footsteps. Sarah is a firefighter, Aileen is a cadet and Katie is about to join the department as a cadet. He said Sarah has shown the most interest in firefighting so far. She was introduced to the life of a firefighter at a very young age.

“When we brought her home from the hospital, we got a call for a structure fire. That was literally her first stop when we left Raleigh and headed home,” Stanley said. “She got a taste of it early. That also sums up how great my wife is about the fire department.”

Firefighting is not the same as it was when he joined the department in 1995. “It has changed, that’s for sure,” Stanley said.

The department’s budget has increased about three and a half times since 1995. “The cost of everything has risen. The engine we bought shortly before I got on cost $130,000. The last one we bought in 2020 cost $575,000. When I started, I was one of 26 volunteers. Now, I’m one of 80 volunteers,” he said. “There was one Four Oaks station when I started. There are two today. The fire department has made a lot of good progress. That’s due to there being a lot of good people surrounding it. It is definitely not a one-man show. We have so many good volunteers.”

He said Four Oaks VFD is now in good shape when it comes to equipment. “Our oldest engine is a 2000. That’s a good place to be,” Stanley said. On average, he said, between fire and emergency medical calls Four Oaks responds to an average of 80- 90 calls a month.

Stanley said he was surprised when he learned of his nomination. So surprised, in fact, he almost didn’t respond to the email telling him about the honor. “My initial thought was not to respond to the email. I’m not the type who likes attention. My wife spoke to me, and in the end responding felt like the right thing to do,” he said.

There was another reason he almost didn’t respond. “A lot of the time at the fire department, we have some pranksters. I thought for a short time somebody might be playing a joke on me,” he said.

“It’s definitely an honor that somebody pays attention to the time and service that you put into being a member of the fire department,” he continued.

Stanley is also involved in his church, Work Center Church in Dunn.

Seeing people after he has helped them is one of the things Stanley says is most gratifying about his fire department work. “When we get a call for a health emergency, and you get to see the person weeks or months down the road and get to see them with their family, those mean the most to know you have helped that person have more time with their loved ones. I’ve had several calls like that throughout my career,” he said.

And, it appears Stanley and his family are well on their way to serving Four Oaks and the surrounding community for years to come.