Mike Kuykendall became Cottonwood’s Fire Chief in 2012, after having first joined the Cottonwood Fire Department in 1987 as a volunteer and joining full-time in 1989.
In 2015, when he became eligible for Arizona’s retirement system, Kuykendall entered the Delayed Retirement Option Program, giving him up to five more years to stay on as chief before retiring.
Those five years expire in October, and Kuykendall is retiring from the force to spend time with his family in Prescott Valley, where he grew up.
“There’s always a certain amount of apprehension about leaving…. [but] it’s the right time to retire.” Kuykendall said. “It’s been a privilege and an honor to serve the citizens of Cottonwood and the Verde Valley as a whole for all these years I’ve been here in the fire service.”
“We have a very robust and professional department,” Kuykendall said. “These are the finest people I’ve ever worked with and they provide exceptional service to the community. I would hope that my successor is coming into an excellent group of firefighters. We’re in good shape. We have good equipment.”
In searching for Kuykendall’s replacement, Cottonwood opened up a nationwide search, which yielded 41 applicants. That was narrowed down to 14 phone interviews, and then eight in-person interviews, leading to four finalists.
Ron Sauntman, currently the Emergency Management Planner for Yavapai County, was selected on Sept. 15 as the new chief.
In addition to his experience at the county level, Sauntman is a Verde Valley native who started fighting fires at 18 years old, spending 23 years with the Camp Verde Fire District [now Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District], rising through the ranks from volunteer to company officer. He has a bachelor’s of science in emergency management and a master of science in executive fire service leadership and disaster prepared- ness from Grand Canyon University.
“My heart and my passion have always been in the fire service,” Sauntman said. “When the opportunity came up to return to the fire service and have an opportunity in emergency management, [I went for it].”
According to Cottonwood City Manager Ron Corbin, Sauntman stood out with his experience, education and professionalism. Corbin felt confident that the new chief would not need too much time to acclimate to the department.
“Ron is ready to be chief,” Corbin said. “He got a significant amount of endorsement from our firefighters.”
Corbin sought recommendations from local firefighters and city officials, as well as Chief Steve Irr of Yuma, who Corbin had previously worked with as assistant city manager of Yuma. Corbin said that Sauntman was a top choice of nearly everyone due to his clear experience and readiness for the job.
“He knows all of the other fire chiefs on a first-name basis,” Corbin said, pointing to Sauntman’s experience with the county, which increased recently due to COVID- 19. “He knows the ambulance service well. He knows about any weaknesses in our first-response system, as emergency operations manager for the county. He knows all the county players. He knows about the Federal Emergency Management Administration, so he knows about grants, and really knows about all the opportunities that we have through that. He’s aware of the COVID impact on the community.”
Kuykendall was one of those fire chiefs that knew Sauntman professionally and praised his readiness for the job.
“I’ve known Ron his whole fire service career,” Kuykendall said. “I think Ron will do an excellent job as the chief. I think he has the right temperament and experience to do a good job.”
“The Verde Valley fire services have always been reliant upon each other,” Sauntman said. “The membership is serving the Verde Valley as a whole. I think Cottonwood needs to be a community department, something the community is proud to be associated with.”
