Local man honored for 70-years of service as volunteer firefighter

LANGHORNE, PA (WTXF) - William Meredith was honored tonight for reaching a milestone in his career as a volunteer firefighter.

At 87 years old, he's given 70 years to the Langhorne Middletown Fire Department.

"I joined in 1946 when I was 16 they were taking them in at 16 at that time," William explained, "The municipal building where the fire house was the center of town and all your friends joined so you joined."

You can imagine, this length of service means William has seen it all and done it all.

Newspaper clippings hanging inside the fire station date back to when William was in his late 20's, still on a truck, as a chief engineer, and fighting fires.

"We used to be surrounded with barns everything around us in the old days was farms there wasn't all the shopping center and housing developments and every time you get a lightning storm in the summer you could almost guarantee somewheres there's going to be a barn fire," William remembered.

A lot has changed since then, he says.

"I think the trucks have gotten bigger, they're push button instead of lever. Computerized instead of just a few things," he explained.

Now, he's financial secretary and a lieutenant with the fire police, and has been for the past 10 years.

He has a clear idea of what he wants his legacy to be if he ever leaves the department.

"That I helped the people that I did what I could, when could, however I could so like the same story been there done that had that type thing," William said.

William is still active he still goes and directs traffic at incidents, community events when we have town events he'll help shut down the road, and he still serves as a financial secretary and held various positions throughout the department.