HUMAN

Name: Craig Torrey
Age: Over 50
Residence: Anchorage, Alaska
Occupation: Fire official
Years involved with Iditarod: 15
Iditarod Role: Security and VIP Liaison
Current Location: Downtown Anchorage Ceremonial Start, Anchorage, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 1, 2025
Temperature: 30F outside

What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?:

I first became involved with the Iditarod when fellow fire marshals let me know that they were working the Iditarod and they needed volunteers, and that sounded like a really interesting thing. I had moved up here from Fort Misery or Fort Myers, Florida, as we call it. So doing something out in the winter sounded like a lot of fun.

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

I’m here today and involved with Iditarod because, well, I believe I’m a very big believer in volunteerism and I do a lot of different things in town while I’ve been here in my 24 years volunteering, and this is one of my favorites now, is the Iditarod volunteering here in different types of roles.

Tell me about your most memorable Iditarod experiences?:

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was one year I was down here, and I was doing the fire inspections of the assembly items here, like the tents and everything, and one of the mushers saw me and asked me if I could help. He had lost a dog that had jumped ship and taken off, and they couldn’t find it. So I made some contacts and put the TV station, and within two hours they found that dog about two miles running along the railroad tracks heading toward Eagle River and got him.

What do you know for sure?:

Well, what I know for sure is it begins, and it ends and what you do in between, in my important, is very valuable, and I believe you should live your life and make the world a little bit better and safer because you’ve lived in it.