BUENA PARK : Fire Chief Ready for a New Challenge

Leaving behind 50-hour workweeks won’t be hard for Fire Chief Sam J. Winner when he retires next month. But saying goodby to a 35-year career won’t be as easy for the veteran fireman.

“I decided after 35 1/2 years it was time for a new challenge,” said Winner, who has served as fire chief since 1979. “I will still be involved in fire service-related activities. I will just have more flexibility. I can set my own hours.”

Winner, 53, officially steps down March 8. However, he has agreed to stay on with the city for an additional 30 days to work as interim chief while a replacement is found, and he will continue to provide consulting services through October.

After October, Winner said he hopes to train future firefighters at a local community college and start his own consulting business.

“I am really interested in consulting and fire management,” Winner said. “We are still killing over 6,000 people every year in fires.”

Winner, the son of a firefighter who organized a volunteer fire department in Pennsylvania, said he knew from age 3 that he wanted to be a fireman. At 18, he began his career as a volunteer firefighter before being hired by the city of La Habra, where he worked until becoming Buena Park’s chief in 1979.

The walls in Winner’s office attest to his many accomplishments, including being named Overachiever of the Year by the Orange County Fire Service, which cited him for his exemplary operation of the 79-member Buena Park Fire Department.

“Sam is a real supportive kind of boss,” Fire Marshal Don Tully said. “He is not constantly looking over your shoulder. He gives us latitude so we can do what needs to be done.”

Firefighting today is vastly different from when he signed on as a volunteer, Winner said. The average work week has shrunk from 120 hours to the current 56 as technology has increased. In his early firefighting days, Winner said, a protective breathing apparatus amounted to nothing more than a wet handkerchief which the firefighters placed over their mouths to prevent smoke inhalation.

While Winner said he looks forward to his plans as a consultant, for now he is content with gearing up for a vacation and a little golf. “It has been a great career,” he said.