The wives of Fountain Valley firefighters join community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Roger Jones joined his wife, Linda Jones and community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Penny Lopez, the wife of a retired firefighter, tips a tear from her eye after a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Community members lines the street as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The wives of Fountain Valley firefighters join community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Taylor O’Donnell, the wife of a Fountain Valley firefighter, holds on to her kids, Murphy and Declan O’Donnell as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Police lead a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Roger Jones joined his wife, Linda Jones and community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The wives of Fountain Valley firefighters join community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Community members lines the street as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Stephanie Gray, the wifie of Fountain Valley firefighter, joins other family and community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Roger Jones joined his wife, Linda Jones and community members as they watch a processional for Fire Chief Bill McQuaid outside city hall in Fountain Valley, CA, on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Chief McQuaid passed away last week. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A few hundred people lined the intersection in front of Fountain Valley City Hall as a processional for the community’s fire chief passed by Tuesday morning, July 29.
Chief Bill McQuaid, 57, died unexpectedly Friday while off duty, shaking the department and community. McQuaid grew up in town, graduating from Fountain Valley High and later joining the department in 1996 as a reserve firefighter. He was named chief in 2023, capping his rise through the department’s ranks.
Waving small American flags that were handed out among the crowd, community members, city employees, families of firefighters and representatives from other departments in the region paid tribute to McQuaid as the procession that wound through the city’s streets passed by.
