William J. Heffernan III

Bill Heffernan was born and raised in West Haven, CT. He began his firefighting career as a volunteer at West Haven Hook & Ladder Company #1 in 1982. In 1993 he was hired by the West Haven Fire Department as a Permanent Paid Firefighter, rising to the rank of Lieutenant, and serving the City of West Haven for an additional 28 years until his retirement in 2021. In 2018 Bill was contacted by his cousin Kevin Heffernan who was working on a pilot for Tacoma FD with his partner Steve Lemme. Bill consulted with Kevin and Steve, providing them with stories from his firefighting career, and also serving as the Technical Advisor for the pilot. The show was picked up by TruTv and is now in its fourth season and "Cousin Bill" has been the Technical Advisor for every episode.