Meet the Chief
Chief William (Bill) Beck
Chief Bill Beck started his fire career as a volunteer in his hometown of Cresco, IA before being hired as a Waterloo firefighter by Chief Deberg in 2004. His first 3 years were spent on B shift as a basic firefighter.
Since 2005, Chief Beck has been a certified Fire Instructor for both WFR and the Northeast Iowa Response Group (NIRG). Chief Beck has been active throughout Northeast Iowa teaching Hazardous Materials classes, Firefighter 1 classes and live burn demonstrations.
In 2007, Chief Beck began paramedic school and became an assigned paramedic for C shift in 2008. In 2009, he was promoted by Chief Carter to C Shift Medical Officer. As a Medical Officer, Chief Beck assisted in training new Waterloo Fire Rescue paramedics the protocols and procedures of being a WFR paramedic. He also ordered and inventoried all medical supplies, created and taught department-wide EMS classes and taught classes including CPR and Mandatory Reporting to the Waterloo Police Department. In 2009, he received the honor of being selected as WFR’s Paramedic of the Year. Chief Beck remained a paramedic until 2018, when he dropped down to an AEMT.
On June 25th, 2012, Chief Treloar promoted Chief Beck to Lieutenant and he was assigned to Rescue Engine 301 for eight years. During those years, he was given the additional duties of supplying fire gear to all WFR employees. In Chief Beck’s time, and with his limited budget supplying gear, he was able to start additional firefighter safety advancements such as second sets of gloves for firefighters, carcinogen blocking particulate hoods for employees and leather helmet inserts for easy cleaning.
On June 23, 2020, Chief Treloar promoted Chief Beck to Battalion Chief. Chief Beck was also given the additional task of being the Chief of Public Relations During his time with Public Relations, Chief Beck helped implement events like the 9/11 blood drive, the Fire and EMS Open Houses, along with countless smaller PR events that the department both hosted and attended. Social media presence and public communication initiatives also grew under his direction.
Mayor Hart swore Chief Beck in as the 10th Fire Chief of Waterloo on March 14, 2023. Chief Beck looks forward to serving his community and department with an emphasis on firefighter training and safety, community risk reduction, and presenting a positive influence to the citizen’s of Waterloo.
Chief Beck is a 1996 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and is currently enrolled in graduate school at Columbia Southern University. He is married to his wife Angela and they have three adult children.
Contact the Chief at fire.chief@waterloo-ia.org