ASHLAND — Former Ashland Fire Chief James Hogsten has joined the more than 20 other state firefighters in the Kentucky Firefighters Association Hall of Fame.

Hogsten, 78, and four others were inducted into the Hall of Fame last Tuesday during the Associations annual conference at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park.

He is the second former Ashland Chief of Fire to be honored by the association. Burris Hensley, Ashland’s longest-serving fire chief who served from 1916 to 1963, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Hogsten served as Ashland’s chief of fire from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. He began his career as a firefighter at the age of 21 in January 1951. Hogsten said he was inspired by his father, who also was an Ashland firefighter, to join the department.

“It’s a career I look back on as one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Hogsten said. Adding becoming a Hall of Famer “just means everything. It’s quite an honor. It just blew my mind when I first learned about it.”

KFA President and Hall of Fame committee chairman John Daley said Hogsten was chosen to become part of the Class of 2007 because of his contributions to the KFA and the Eastern Kentucky Firefighters Association. Daley said although Hogsten never held a board position with KFA, “he supported and encouraged many people from his department and the area to be involved.”

During his career, Hogsten served in many offices with the EKFA and was very active in supporting and training the areas volunteer departments. He was instrumental in the construction of the EKFA Fire Training Center — the first in northeastern Kentucky — and was heavily involved in the development of the Public Safety Communications Center and served as a charter member on its board.

Under Hogsten’s leadership, the AFD purchased the first ladder tower apparatus in eastern Kentucky and five new pumper trucks within a 10-year span. He also oversaw the construction of two new fire stations in his 20 years as the city’s top fire official.

Hogsten was nominated by his grandson, Lt. Ryan Hogsten of the Lexington Fire Department.

Other 2007 inductees included: Chief Gerald Stewart of the Paducah Fire Department, Chief Charles Trodglen of the Henderson Fire Department, John M. Slaughter of the Paducah Fire Department and Major James Moore of the Elizabethtown Fire Department. Slauther and Moore were both inducted posthumously.

Slaughter died in 1937 from injuries he received in a fire and Moore died in 1997.

Although the KFA was founded in 1919 its Hall of Fame has only been in existence since 2003. Daley said the association is working to honor Kentucky firefighters past and present who have made outstanding contributions to both the KFA and the profession in Kentucky.

CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reach at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.