“We did anything to spend time together”: Son tells story of father who died in St. Peter garage fire

ST. PETER, Minn. (KEYC) - Not long ago, Casey Vogel and his father, Curt, were restoring Curt’s 1966 Chevelle. It’s just one of the many hobbies Casey shared with his dad to make life more enjoyable for him.

Casey said, “[Curt] was diagnosed with stage four brain, lung and liver cancer.” He only had three months to live, and he wasn’t getting around very well. So, Casey moved him into his house and did everything his dad wanted to do.

Casey said, “We just did anything and everything we could to spend time together. We were out fishing in the boat, fishing down in the river, deer hunting, out shooting guns. But, most importantly, we were working on our car project.”

The Chevelle meant everything to Casey and his dad, starting on it from ground zero.

“It was so much pride,” Casey said. “Something him and I thought up from scratch. We’d been planning this motor for three years.”

Since winter came along, Casey and his dad were in his heated garage, equipped with couches and television... all the makings of a man cave.

“We ended up just spending more time out there and working on our car,” Casey explained.

Approaching midnight this past Saturday, Casey gave his dad his medications and Curt wanted to stay out there and watch TV.

Casey said, “I came in the house, took a shower, took some ice cream out there, [and] we had a bowl of ice cream. He wanted to hang out there for the night. That was okay.”

But Casey’s dog, Luna, knew something was wrong just minutes later.

“I walked back there to see what was going on and I thought it was snowing very hard,” Casey explained. “I couldn’t see anything and once I opened the door, that was not snow it was smoke.”

Casey’s dad was unable to escape the fire, and it was too hot to save him. “Just coming out of the back door singed my eyebrows and eyelashes and the hair on my head,” Casey said.

In under 20 minutes, the fire destroyed the garage. The heat melted Casey’s house and destroyed the 1966 Chevelle.

While out planning his father’s funeral, Casey came home to even more misfortune.

“My dog (Luna) had gotten into something that was in the garbage can that had burnt up, and it had made her very sick,” Casey said.

Luna ultimately passed away as well, taking away Casey’s main source of comfort during an already terrible situation.

But the community has been surrounding him with as much support as they can.

“Knowing that I have that many people that care and have - are standing behind me, is truly more than what I could ask for,” Casey said.

All Casey wanted to do was help his dad who taught him everything. Now, the Vogels need the help in this tragic set of events.

A link to the Vogel family’s Go Fund Me is linked here. They’re looking for help with funeral costs and trying to rebuild a garage so Casey can move on from the home.

Click here to download the KEYC News Now app or our KEYC First Alert weather app.