Many of you may remember him as the quarterback for the Westminster High School football team between 88 and 92…back when Coach Tom Lynch was brought on to lead the team. Those were halcyon days before things like Y2K, the rise of Facebook and Amazon, and a Starbucks on every corner.

 

Say hello again to Todd Wagner, a man whose mark has been etched in the pursuit of the passions that he loves - family, friends, football, and … fire? You bet! Todd is now co-owner, founder, and Vice President of Vulcan Fire of Golden, Colorado. It's a fire alarm engineering and design company that offers design, schematics, installation, training, and coaching. It’s a business that helps keep folks safe day and night.

 

Visitors to the new Iver C Ranum An Innovation Campus will see Vulcan Fire’s footprint on the renovated building that was constructed in 1962. The old Ranum High School (ironically Wagner’s arch-rival) is now an even safer place because of his company and him.

 

Not bad for a Westy alum who now gives back to Westminster Public Schools every chance he can get.

 

 

Wagner loved playing football, particularly as a quarterback, where he thrived under Coach Lynch. “Coach Lynch took me and the other QBs under his wing,” Wagner recalled. “He would pull me out on the field during lunches and off-periods to get extra time preparing for the game.”

 

This extra time with the coach made all the difference for Todd, who remembers it like it was yesterday.

 

He also played basketball under Coach Steve Wilson.

 

“Both coaches were instrumental in my path forward in life. Not only did they steer me in the right direction in sports, but they also taught me a lot about being a man and doing the right thing,” he said.

 

As he reminisces about school, a smile crosses his face. They were, after all, the days that shaped who he has become. He remembers the support of his friends through those years, among them, Brian Venneberg and Mike Quintana (current WPS employee). “Those guys stood by me,” he recalls.

 

The staff was there for him too. “I felt lost at times, but I had some really great teachers and coaches and administrators who would get me on track.”

 

Wagner wanted to play college football and Coach Lynch had connections at the Air Force Academy where he could not only play football but also study electrical engineering. He soon discovered that life at the academy was more challenging than he imagined. He was shocked to find that 12 quarterbacks were looking for a spot on the team, and while he made the roster other quarterbacks were bigger and stronger.

 

The academics were tough too. “I really had to hunker down,” he recalls.

 

Wagner wasn’t happy.

 

Football was his life and he found himself struggling to make it all work.

 

That’s when his dad asked him the question, “You’re not really happy, are you?”

 

Todd said, “I’m not.”

 

Then his dad gave him some sound advice. “You’ve got to do what makes you happy.”

 

Wagner decided to enter Colorado School of Mines, which offered him a full-ride scholarship. He also played 3 years as a running back.

 

 

During his time at Mines, he worked for the family janitorial business in the evening hours to make ends meet. It was while cleaning a family-owned fire alarm business in Westminster called Protex Special Systems that something clicked.

 

While cleaning the facility, the owner asked him about his Auto CAD (Computer Aided Design) experience and Wagner quickly pulled out a floppy disk with a schematic that he drew at Mines.

 

Impressed, the owner asked him if he wanted to earn some extra money and take the fire design drawings of the existing buildings and convert them into CAD drawings - a seemingly tedious job that required a ton of software expertise that Todd luckily had.

 

“And that’s how it started,” he said. “I liked making money. So, I would come in and clean, and then stick around for a few extra hours doing CAD work.”

 

From there, his career in fire suppression systems just snowballed, working for other companies before he realized he wanted to be his own boss.

 

 

With the support of his wife of 16 years Christine nee Carlin (also a Westy student) 2 kids McKenzie and Noah, and his business partner, CJ Simonds - a former firefighter - Todd put his entrepreneurial spirit to the test and began his own company.

 

Now 5 years old, Vulcan Fire works closely with 50 electrical contractors and services more than 200 customers including the University of Denver, Colorado State University, and Denver Water. The company’s motto: “Partnership, commitment and being true to yourself.”

 

 

Wagner hasn’t forgotten his roots and gives back when he can. This includes donating his time to the scholarship selection committee of the Westminster Public Schools Foundation, where he hopes to one day be a board member.

 

Advice for other WPS alumni: “Get involved, stay involved. It doesn’t take much to start. Start by going to a golf tournament or donating time on a committee.” he said.

 

 

If you have a Ranum or Westy graduate you would like to nominate for What’s Up WPS, please email communications@wps.org.