Although he is only 4-foot-3 inches tall, Mark Vogel has made it big – he was accepted last week as a volunteer firefighter in the town of Secaucus, and is perhaps the shortest firefighter in the state. “I’ve wanted this all my life,” said the diminutive resident last week at his job at the Secaucus Nutrition Center. “Actually, I wanted to be a cop, but since I couldn’t be that, I wanted this.” Police departments have height requirements, but the language in laws regarding firefighting is more vague and pertains to physical abilities. At 32, Vogel joins an elite group of determined men under 5 feet tall who have joined the ranks of firefighters across the country, several belonging to volunteer departments like in Secaucus. One is actually a paid firefighter in Las Vegas. Technically, Vogel has been working as a First Responder for the Moonachie Volunteer Fire Department since 1997, as part of the medical response team that helps evaluate and care for injured persons until Emergency Medical Technicians or paramedics can arrive on a scene. In Secaucus, Vogel will serve as a firefighter at the Washington Hook and Ladder Company. He graduated from the Bergen County Police and Fire academy in Mahwah earlier this month and passed his physical examination. Although Vogel wanted to be a firefighter, he didn’t make the move until 1997 because, he says, he was “a little scared.” Vogel, whose father was a Secaucus police officer for 25 years, said, “I was worried that I couldn’t do it, or that I couldn’t pass.” But encouragement from friends helped him overcome his fear