• Competition uses difficult routine in timed event.
Mike Vogt, Fire Chief from Alpine, was recently called back to a national event in Florida where he was honored for his competitive work he had accomplished years earlier as a member of the Casper Fire Fighting team.
Earlier this fall, Chief Vogt was presented with the FireFighter Challenge Hall of Fame Award.
In the 90s’ his Casper team repetitively captured top honors in national competitions that measure the physical ability of firefighters.
At the time they competed against larger departments from cities throughout the U.S.
Their success garnered the attention of ESPN, interested in the Wyoming city with above average fire fighting skills.
Casper won the event for three consecutive years as they went through a rigorous routine of climbing up five flights of stairs, pulling bound hoses up while unraveling it, dragging the charged hose line and adding to the challenge by carrying a 175 lb. dummy for 100-feet, all of this in timed events.
Over the years, timed events often extend to seven minutes with less trained teams, but Casper was getting the job done in 1:30.
“You have to be physically fit to do this job,” he said of the early competitive events and the work in general.
Vogt continues serving as a fire fighter today in Alpine with a team of just over 20 volunteers.
Over the years the firefighting competition has expanded with teams coming to the U.S. from 16 different countries in addition to the major cities in the U.S. for the annual event.
For information on assisting the Alpine Fire Department, please call 307-654-7581.
