‘A way of life’
Fire chief calls it a career after four decades
William I. Stoudt Jr. never envisioned holding the highest rank with the Reading Fire Department, but circumstances eight years ago obliged him to throw his hat in the ring.
“I never looked or even thought that I would get to this rank,” Stoudt said in an interview a little more than a week before the end of his 34-year career with the department, serving as chief for that final eight. “I always did have expectations at the time of being a deputy chief, but never the chief. But a lot of changes were going on, a lot of instability.”
Although Stoudt hadn’t longed coveted the position and the inherent administrative responsibilities, the chief’s hat and helmet sure seemed a proper fit for the Reading native.
Stoudt said he stepped up in 2014 because the department needed some stability after a succession of several chiefs following the retirement of William H. Rehr III in 2011 after 13 years at the helm.
After being appointed by then-Mayor Vaughn Spencer and confirmed by City Council, Stoudt told the Reading Eagle he aimed to strike a balance between the needs of the city administration and the rank-and-file firefighters.
“My No. 1 job is to make sure that the officers and firefighters in the field have the tools they need to perform their duties and that they can go home safe at the end of their shifts to their families,” he said in the 2014 interview.
‘Reading for retirement’
Eight years later, Stoudt, 60, said he felt it was time to call it a career. His last day was Friday.
“I think I’m ready for retirement,” he said in an interview where it all began, the former Liberty Volunteer Fire Company at Fifth and Laurel streets, now the Reading Area Firefighters Museum. “It’s been a great ride. I’ve been blessed with everything I’ve been able to do, and everything I’ve been part of.
“To be part of this, from being a kid all the way to the top spot, you know, it’s been a blessing. I got to work with, crawl down the hallways with, some of the greatest firefighters in the world.”
Lt. Jason Batz, who is in charge of the training division, said Stoudt kept his promise of stabilizing the department and paving the way for a smooth transition to the next chief.
Stoudt met with the firefighters in a series of meetings early in his tenure and stated he wanted to get the department back on track, Batz said.
“He wasn’t concerned with leaving a legacy,” he said. “He wanted to get us on solid ground where we could be operating in an efficient manner. I think we’re set for a very smooth transition to the next chief.”
The next chief happens to be Stoudt’s cousin James Stoudt, whose selection by Mayor Eddie Moran was approved by City Council last week.
An early start
Formally, Stoudt devoted just over 40 years in the fire service, if you count the volunteer ranks. He began as a volunteer with the Liberties in 1980 following military service in the Air Force.
But he’s been around fire stations his entire life and started going to fires before he could drive, pedaling a bicycle.
Stoudt said he had wanted to be a firefighter almost as far back as he spoke his first words.
As a very young child, his home on Pearl Street in south Reading was equipped with a fire bell so his dad, William Sr., a volunteer firefighter and officer with the Liberties, would know there was a fire to go out on.
“I pretty much was bred for this,” he said.
As he approached the final week of his career, Stoudt said he was still processing the end.
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, the finality of it,” he said.
As he had reflected on his career, fond memories from his earliest days of helping out on fires as a junior firefighter have been rising to the surface.
“We’d go to fires and help wrap up hose,” Stoudt recalled. “I’d ride my bike to the fires. Bill Rehr was a second deputy at the time. I
remember he’d tell them to throw my bike on the truck and ride back to the station here. He’d have them bring me back in the truck.
“That was quite an experience
at the time.”
The volunteer company owned houses on both sides of the fire house. When Stoudt got out of the Air Force in 1980, he
and his wife, newlyweds took up residence in one of them.
“I was here all the time,” he said.