City of Fort Walton Beach issued the following announcement.
Meet Sam Signer, Driver/Engineer for the City of Fort Walton Beach Fire Department. Sam has served the FWB community as a firefighter for the last five years and was promoted to Driver/Engineer earlier this year. His duties go much further than just driving the truck. He manages all equipment and operations of the apparatus and is responsible for all firefighters on his truck. Sam has also assumed a leadership role within the department, mentoring and helping to develop new firefighters. “I have a strong relationship with my team,” says Sam. “We would do anything for each other.” He respects the “brotherhood” within his department and takes his role in public safety very seriously. When he talks about the work of the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department, he says he knows his city is well taken care of.
Sam is originally from the Midwest. He grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and moved to the Chicago area in junior high school. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Western Illinois University and is currently in Paramedic School. He moved to the Fort Walton Beach Area in 2012 working as a personal trainer and jumped at the opportunity to become a firefighter for the City of FWB when the position opened. Sam lives in Fort Walton Beach with his incredibly supportive girlfriend, Rosa, and her son. Getting to know Sam Signer:
- Hobbies? Kayak fishing (recently caught a monster Jack Crevalle in the bay), hiking, camping and enjoying the outdoors.
- Favorite place to visit? “Anywhere in Colorado doing 14ers with my dad.”
- Who do you admire the most? “My dad. He has more patience than anyone I’ve ever met.”
- If you could learn anything, what would it be? Spanish
- Favorite movie quote? “No such thing as bad student. Only bad teacher.” – Mr. Miyagi, The Karate Kid
- If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be? Rob Dyrdeck (American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality and former professional skateboarder). “He looks like he is always having fun!”
- Something about yourself that would surprise others. “I’ve recently taken up gardening.”