Fire Chief Andrew Roughton introduced Destry Allgood to the Webb City Council Monday, prior to pinning and swearing-in ceremonies.

Roughton typically asks new recruits to provide information for him to use as a source of introductory comments. This time, he said Allgood did such a good job of writing about himself that he read it verbatim: 

Destry Allgood grew up in Carl Junction. He graduated from Carl Junction

High School in the class of 2009, and is a current resident of Joplin, where he lives with Christine, his wife of 10 years, and their two children, Iris, 7, and Flanner, 5.

After graduating high school, Destry earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Missouri Southern State University. However, upon realizing that his degree in Spanish was worth about as much as the paper it was printed on when it came to finding gainful employment, he went into sales. 

He found that he was successful as a salesman, but the work was unfulfilling to him, and over the years the lack of meaning and fulfillment began to wear on him more and more. 

Finally, early in 2020, Christine sat Destry down and told him that she could tell that he needed a change. She told him that she thought that he would enjoy being a firefighter. This lit a spark in him, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he got about doing work that directly helped the people around him. 

He enrolled in MSSU’s EMT class the next semester and subsequently attended MSSU’s fire academy. After graduating from the academy and earning his state certifications, Destry applied to Webb City Fire Department on the recommendation of Conner Cooper, who had been one of his instructors during fire academy. 

He is grateful and humbled for the opportunity to serve the citizens of Webb City. He is also grateful to his lifelong mentor, and hunting buddy, Keith Meyer, of the Webb City Police Department, who put in a good word for him with Chief Andrew Roughton. 

And lastly, he is thankful beyond words for his wife, who has been a case study in spousal support and patience during all the homework, late nights, and stress that came with going back to school and starting a new career. He could not have done it without her.