Collins holds fire chief position for nearly 30 years

Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department Chief, Mark Collins, has held his position for nearly thirty years and is one of the longest in Wyoming and Hot Springs County.

Collins first started volunteering for the fire department in 1992. In 1993 Collins started out as a secretary, then took over as treasurer for about seven or eight months. Over the years of his service, Collins moved on to lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and then chief. Collins said that for each position, you are nominated by your peers and then they vote. 

Collins said, “Each job is different… When I got up into captain and lieutenant, they appointed me as a training officer. It’s the hardest job in the department because there is a lot involved.” Collins described in the past the department sought to make sure their firefighters were trained and certified. As a teacher, Collins said he got the most out of it because he had to be well prepared versus the experience of the student sitting at the desk. Collins trained two different firefighter groups and for their first time in training, Collins was able to certify with the state 20 firefighters and the next year he also taught the rookies. 

Collins described his interest and journey in becoming a firefighter and said, “When I was a little kid, we lived up here next to the museum on Broadway. That’s where I was born and raised. Every time the fire whistle would blow off, I would run down to the stoplight and wait for the trucks to come by. When I got out of college, I went to go work for a company called FMC and they owned an underground mine down outside of Green River, a soda ash mine. When you get hired on there, you have to join their fire brigade and they train you. It’s about three to four weeks of training. After I moved back to Thermopolis, I was going to join the fire department, but they were full back then”. In 1988 the fire department ask Collins to join but he was struggling in his business and didn’t have the time. Later in January 1992, they came to Collins again, and he joined the next Tuesday night.

If someone wants to become a volunteer firefighter, they need to attend at least three Tuesday nights meetings at the Fire Hall at 7 p.m. Then the department will vote and decide if the subject can do a six months probationary period. Collins said, “That’s just to see if you’re going to like it.” Meetings are weekly. The second Tuesday of the month is their business meeting.