A young Rich Burroughs looked at his father in a hospital bed and asked, “Are you sure you still want to be a firefighter?”
The answer would help shape the life of the 13-year-old, and also put in perspective the kind of man Richard Burroughs was.
“Yes, I signed up to save people and this is part of the job,” Burroughs’ son recalled the then-39-year-old saying after the Dec. 30, 1980, chemical barge fire that left Burroughs and two other firefighters injured. “When you see someone burned up, with cream all over their body, that’s when it hits home.”
After the injury, “He doubled down on his dedication to saving people. … That was important to me,” the younger Burroughs said.
Richard Burroughs, 81, one of the first Black firefighters in Bayonne history, died July 15 at the age of 81. He joined the department in 1966 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1991, becoming the first Black superior officer in Bayonne Fire Department history. He retired in 2003.
“Lt. Burroughs served admirably. He was an excellent firefighter and fire officer,” current Bayonne Fire Chief Keith Weaver said. “He was a pleasure to work with, a good friend, family man and firefighter. It was a great experience working with him. I was fortunate to be able to have worked with him and to have learned skills from him.”
Burroughs has been described as the first paid Black Bayonne firefighter. A city spokesman said there are records that date back to the turn of the 20th century show a Black firefighter named Cephus Van Buskirk was a member of the Bayonne volunteer squad.
Rich Burroughs recalled his father telling stories of being subjected to racial abuse earlier in his career, and how he stuck with it to pave the way for other people of color in the department.
“I’m proud of that,” Burroughs said. “When he joined the department I believe he was the only Black firefighter in the department. The local branch of the NAACP had approached him to join the department.”
Burroughs was honored by the city council after the 1980 fire and in 2017 he was feted at a Morris Canal Community Development Corp. gala.
That hospital bedside conversation was fateful in another way. The younger Burroughs had wanted to be a firefighter, but that incident and those injuries changed his mind.
“It impressed upon me to go to college,” Burroughs said. “When I saw how badly he got burned … that squashed my firefighting dream. I had always loved going to the firehouse and sliding down the pole, riding on the truck — all the things that made the firefighting job seem cool —until you realize how dangerous it was.”
Burroughs, who went to Rutgers University and went into marketing, recalled a story his father told about responding to a fire in the Curries Woods housing complex in Jersey City.
“He said the residents were throwing things out the window at them, even a small TV, but you have to save people, even when they are being ridiculous,” Burroughs said. “I think he told that story to show me that no matter how tough the job gets, or how weird, you have to do the job.”
Richard Burroughs was born and raised in Bayonne and joined the Air Force after graduating from Bayonne High School. He was discharged in 1963 and joined the Fire Department three years later. Burroughs also was a fire academy instructor and an instructor in New Jersey City University’s Fire Safety Manager program.
He lived most of his adult life in Jersey City and had two children, Richard and Evelyn.
Visitation is Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. at Watson Mortuary Services, 26 Gifford Ave. A service will follow from 4 to 6 p.m.