Retiring Fountain Valley Fire Chief Ron Cookston honored to have served hometown

Ron Cookston has noticed lately that everyone from family and friends to his own colleagues would like a few minutes of his time.

As he approached the end of his three-decade-long career with the Fountain Valley Fire Department, the homegrown fire chief has reminisced about serving the town in which he grew up.

“It’s been the honor of my life just to serve people,” Cookston, 54, said. “We’re a unique organization that no matter what somebody calls us for, if they need help, we will respond, and if we aren’t able to solve the problem ourselves, we will find that help that will help them solve any problem they have.

“That’s been the joy, and that’s been the excitement ... to help people when they’re in their time of need, they’re in distress, to be able to relieve them of that.”

Cookston had many well-wishers at the Fountain Valley City Council meeting on Tuesday, his final one as the head of the city’s fire department. His last day was Friday.

Mayor Kim Constantine read off a proclamation recognizing Cookston for his 29 years of full-time service to the city, during which he held the positions of firefighter, paramedic, fire engineer, fire captain, paramedic coordinator, training officer, battalion chief and fire chief.

“This is so you,” Constantine remarked, as she traversed the proclamation’s many clauses. The one directly preceding her comment stated, “Chief Cookston is inherently driven, leading those around him by raising the bar and nurturing an environment that values integrity, cohesion, knowledge, collaboration, due diligence, inclusion, planning, preparation, volunteerism and sound decision-making.”

A 1986 graduate of Fountain Valley High, Cookston revealed that his first job was to deliver the Daily Pilot when he was in the fourth grade at Courreges Elementary.

“I delivered to 57 houses in Fountain Valley,” Cookston said. “It was getting up in the morning and folding the papers, just stuffing them into bags, and making sure that they’re delivered correctly. … The customer, following up and talking to them when I would do collections. It was my first experience toward what dedication to something felt like.”

Cookston would go on to be a heavy equipment operator and a diesel mechanic right out of high school, before a dinner with a cousin who was in the fire service pushed him in that direction.

“I’ve always volunteered for things,” Cookston added. “I was happier to mow my neighbor’s lawn than to mow my own when I was a kid. I just really enjoyed helping people, and I think that’s what drew me to the fire service.”

Promoted to fire chief in 2019, Cookston oversaw the department during the coronavirus pandemic. City Manager Maggie Le noted Cookston’s department worked closely with the senior community during that time.

With Cookston as its fire chief, the fire department reorganized its command staff to include the position of division chief, which he said provided a succession plan for future leadership. Fountain Valley also added a full-time emergency medical services manager.

“When you’re homegrown, I think every single decision you make, it’s much more gratifying because it’s close to your heart,” said Le, a homegrown city leader in her own right as a Los Amigos High graduate. “Your mission is to make a positive impact in the community that you grew up and hold so dear.”

Division Chief Bill McQuaid will be promoted to fire chief, starting his new role on Dec. 30, Le said. Cookston remarked that McQuaid graduated from Fountain Valley High the same year he did.

“He’s been there a couple years less than me, and he is ready and equipped to march forward with what our strategic plan was and to foster what we’ve done in the past and embrace the future,” Cookston said of McQuaid. “We couldn’t have a better leader in succeeding the department than Bill McQuaid.”

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