He was ‘Fireman Bill’ to Fort Worth school kids and was credited for saving 18 lives.

The name William Seals Pierce might not mean anything to you. But if you grew up in Fort Worth in the 1950s or 1960s, the name Fireman Bill means something to you.

In 1929, William Seals Pierce was a private in the Fort Worth Fire Department when he and other firemen fought a house fire. Pierce discovered the charred body of a child. He never forgot the sight. Pierce began thinking of a program of fire safety aimed at children.

In 1951, he got his chance: The fire department began a fire safety program for public schools. Pierce was given the assignment.

For 15 years, Pierce, as Fireman Bill, presented a program on fire safety in elementary and junior high public schools, parochial schools and churches.

To us school children, getting out of class to attend an assembly in the auditorium was always welcome, and seeing Fireman Bill was special.

Fireman Bill didn’t preach to us, he didn’t talk down to us, he didn’t recite dry lists of safety rules. He was sneakier than that: He taught us while entertaining us.

“You’ve got to make kids laugh if you’re going to make them pay attention,” he once explained.

Among his “assistants” during his presentations were Greasy Roach, Mr. Stupid Careless and Dirty Doodle Bug.

His props included electrical equipment, an ironing board, a pan of grease and a doll. He used the same doll for 15 years, outfitting her after each presentation with a new skirt of crepe paper.

He showed us how to prevent fires and how to deal with fires — the kind that children are likely to encounter. He showed us how to be safe with a clothes iron. He set fire to the pan of grease and showed us how to snuff out the fire. He set fire to the doll’s skirt and waved her about. All eyes in the auditorium were on those yellow flames.

We were entertained and, unwittingly, educated.

Fireman Bill’s mission was not confined to the school auditorium. He visited young fire victims in the hospital, not only to boost their morale but also to ask them the details of their accident so he’d know how to tailor his presentations most effectively.

For his Fireman Bill work, in 1963 Pierce was honored as Fort Worth fireman of the year.

William Seals Pierce died in 1967 at age 63.

The fire department credited Fireman Bill with preventing 18 deaths and estimated that on at least 100 occasions a fire that could have caused heavy damage or death was prevented because of Fireman Bill’s safety lessons.

For example, in 1962, a sixth-grader at West Van Zandt Elementary School backed into the school incinerator (remember when school janitors burned trash in incinerators?). His clothes caught fire. But he didn’t panic. He stopped, dropped and rolled, extinguishing the fire.

“That’s the way Fireman Bill said to do it,” the boy later said.

On another occasion a boy brushed against a home space heater and set his clothes on fire. He wrapped himself in a blanket to extinguish the fire. Then he told his mother that he had burned himself and was going to lie down and keep still. “If I faint, raise my feet above my head,” he told her.

All as taught by Fireman Bill.