By Wendy Burton
As “Tex the Clown,” Darren Perry has been keeping a handful of confused fire clowns in line on stage for about 14 years.
“All I do as Tex is keep the program moving,” Perry said. “I tell the other clowns what they did wrong and how to do it correctly.”
The Fort Gibson firefighter recently won a “Good Hands Award” from AllState for his community service as the cowboy clown in oversized chaps and the 3-foot tall hat.
School children in Fort Gibson and surrounding communities have learned fire safety from the Fort Gibson Fire Department clowns for more than 20 years.
“We’ve got firefighters that saw the show when they were kids,” said Perry, a captain in the Fort Gibson Fire Department.
Perry enjoys being a firefighter and being part of the community. He got started thanks to “Sunshine the Clown,” also known as firefighter Kenny Raynor.
Raynor really spearheaded the fire clowns, and he’s truly passionate about what he does, Perry said.
“He relates so well to children,” he said. “He’s a great role model for children and for us here at the fire station.”
Although Perry looks to Raynor to set a good example, “Sunshine” has left him hanging a time or two.
The other fire clowns are cued when Tex says certain things on stage. They are supposed to come out to make their mistakes then, Perry said.
Once they left him hanging there, and sat offstage and laughed at him instead.
“I just stood there and spit and sputtered,” Perry said. “They still try to get me once in a while.”
Despite the fun the captain firefighter has being a clown, he also takes his firefighting job seriously.
As a firefighter, Perry is on call seven days a week, 24 hours a day. He sometimes spends a day or two at the fire station while wife, Tiffani, stays home to care for their two children.
That is in addition to working full-time in his AllState agency through the week.
“It can be stressful sometimes,” he said. “My wife puts up with a lot of 3 a.m. alarm calls that wake her up. She’s very patient and understanding.”
To add to his busy schedule, Perry and the other firefighters must go through training several times a year.
When he was a rookie, firefighters primarily put out house and grass fires and responded to car accidents, he said.
Now they must have more medical knowledge to assist with cardiac arrests and more.
“The job of just putting water on the hot spots has become much more than that,” Perry said.
He credits Chief Larry Cooper with keeping the firefighters trained and informed. “He’s very passionate about that,” Perry said.
He also went through one of his most frightening experiences as a firefighter with Cooper about 10 years ago.
Cooper and Perry were deep inside a burning boat shop when Cooper noticed Perry’s helmet melting on his head.
“I didn’t know it, and he just yanked me out,” Perry said. “That was the scariest time I had.”
The worst times for Perry are when he has to respond on calls that involve friends or family. But Perry wouldn’t give up his firefighter job.
“We’re all proud of doing what we do,” he said.
Firefighting is its own reward, he said.
“The best is being part of a group that has a genuine passion for helping others,” Perry said. “From our rookies to our chief, they’re all great guys.”
In addition to clowning around, Perry also talks to driver’s education classes at different schools, teaching teenagers about driving safely.
