Steve Vogel doesn’t see a dichotomy between being a first responder and an artist.
It’s just that after 34 years of fire and paramedic service in Sequim, Vogel, the retired Clallam County Fire District 3 fire chief, didn’t let many people know he liked art nonetheless majored in it in college.
“There just wasn’t time to do art,” he said of his career.
Now through April 28, Vogel hosts his first ever show inside the Sequim Museum and Arts Exhibit Center, 175 W. Cedar St., with more than a dozen of his pen and ink, and one-of-a-kind etchings on display from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays.
Vogel, a University of Washington art major, knew he wanted to be a firefighter since he was a toddler and the career stuck in his mind growing up. After finishing college in 1976 he became a janitor while volunteering as a firefighter in Suquamish. In 1979, he was invited to paramedic school and focused his efforts on becoming a full-fledged firefighter.