Billy Telford, longtime Oceanside fireman, dies at 70

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William “Billy” Telford, a former chief of the Oceanside Fire Department, died on Dec. 27, as many mourned the loss of the longtime hero.

Telford joined the Oceanside Fire Department in 1964 shortly after graduating high school, and served for nearly 35 years. He was elected to be chief in 1979, a position he held for four years, and became commissioner of the Oceanside Fire District in 1987, according to Ed Scharfberg, of the OFD. He resigned from that role in 1998 and moved to Florida.

During his decades in the department, Telford also served as first lieutenant and captain of Oceanside’s South Side Hose Company No. 2, as well as chairman of the training and field activities committees.

He was also a former officer for the New York Police Department, and a retiree of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). Telford was one of 13 children, and his brothers Dennis and Kevin followed his footsteps into the department.

“It was a shocking and tragic loss to all of us within the fire department,” Scharfburg said, “and he will be greatly missed.”

A visitation was held at Towers Funeral Home in Oceanside on Jan. 3, and a funeral mass took place the next day at St. Anthony’s Church.