STILLWATER, Okla. – Mark S. Pare, the Rhode Island Fire Academy director, received his IFSTA emeritus award during the 2023 IFSTAⓇ Summer Validation Conference, July 8, 2023.
Pare received his 25-years-of-attendance plaque from IFSTAⓇ in 2022. In 1997, Pare served on his first IFSTAⓇ committee: Pumping Apparatus Driver/Operator Handbook, 1st Edition.
“To this day, I have remained friends with members of that committee,” Pare said. “The experience of being a member of this ‘family’ has given me lifelong friendships, national contacts, and the satisfaction that I have been a part of making the fire service safer.”
Pare served on the committees in charge of validating IFSTAⓇ manuals such as Fire and Emergency Services Instructor, 10th Edition; Pumping and Aerial Apparatus Driver/Operator Handbook, 4th Edition; Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 6th Edition; Fire and Emergency Services Orientation and Terminology, 6th Edition; and Chief Officer, 3rd Edition. Pare strives to remain active within IFSTAⓇ even as he steps down from his leadership roles.
Emeritus status may be bestowed upon a person who either has at least 20 years of service as an IFSTAⓇ delegate and is no longer active in their fire service or related career or upon a person who has been designated by the IFSTAⓇ Executive Board. These individuals retain the highest title held in their IFSTAⓇ participation.
