APPLE VALLEY • Sid Hultquist, a division chief with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, has been selected as fire chief with the Apple Valley Fire Protection District.
Apple Valley Fire Protection District board members Lars Hanson, Larry Cusack, Richard Cambridge, Virgil Barnes and Pat Gabler chose Hultquist from a field of three finalists to serve as the district’s sixth chief since 1950, succeeding Art Bishop, who is retiring next month after two years as fire chief.
Hultquist previously served with Apple Valley’s fire department from 1991 to 1997, having achieved the rank of deputy chief. In 1997 he was hired by San Bernardino County to serve as division chief with the Valley, North Desert and High Desert Battalions.
Hultquist entered the fire service in 1979 and served as a seasonal firefighter with the California Department of Forestry and the United States Forest Service. In 1983 he became a paid call firefighter for County Fire and served at station 37 in Mountain View Acres. He also served as a paid-call firefighter for the city of Victorville Fire Department. Hultquist became a paramedic in 1985 and was hired as a firefighter paramedic for the Barstow Fire District in January 1986. He advanced to the rank of engineer paramedic in Barstow and in 1991 accepted a captain position with the Apple Valley Fire District. While serving the citizens of Apple Valley, Chief Hultquist promoted to battalion chief in 1994 and deputy chief in 1997. Hultquist also served as the chairman of the Regional Fire Protection Authority Operations group and helped implement the Emergency Medical Dispatch Program at Desert Communications. Hultquist participated in the merger/transition process when both the CSA 38 and Hesperia fire departments were taken over by County Fire.
Hultquist has lived over 47 years in the High Desert and grew up in Victorville.