Fire Chief Bill Paskle cannot remember how many stickers or plastic fire hats he has given out to children over his 31 years with Alpine Fire Protection District but places the number somewhere around ‘countless’.
He will close out 12 years as Fire Chief when he retires on Dec. 30, the culmination of a career he began as a volunteer firefighter with Bostonia Fire Protection District in 1987.
His desk holds a collection of squishy stress relief squeeze toys brought back from conferences he attended over the years as President of the Fire Agencies Insurance Risk Authority, Chairman of the Board for the San Diego/Imperial County Regional Communications System, President of the San Diego Fire Districts Association, board member of the Fire Districts Association of California and in other capacities throughout his tenure.
However, he says his proudest professional moment was when he was given the opportunity to serve as Fire Chief to have the board place faith in him and to serve the community.
“It has been a privilege and honor to lead this agency in our community. Alpine is such a close community— every time you go to the store or a kid’s soccer game you see someone you know and to have people walk up, shake your hand, to get to serve those people… it’s a good feeling,” Paskle said.
The fire chief says that the average citizen might see all firefighters as being part of the same force, but he is especially appreciative of structural changes that took place during his time with AFPD which allowed for a full-time fire marshal.
“Having a fire marshal here every day takes some of the burden off the fire chief and it has made my life a lot easier,” Paskle said.
Still, he says the most exciting lure of retirement is the opportunity to spend more time with his wife. Paskle says that he would not have traded his job for anything but that it required him to spend a great deal of time away from his family.
He looks around his office and says that he’ll always be a member of the agency and might stop by every now and again but as there are no volunteers with Alpine Fire District, he will be well and truly retired come January.
When asked if he has any pearls of wisdom for Alpine, Paskle says:
“I would remind residents that this is Alpine and wildfire is something we live within our community. We all have to do our part to keep on top of that.”
Asked what he might have done differently over the years, Paskle smiles and says he wouldn’t change a thing.