Cloverdale volunteer tapped for state post

On June 20, at the annual conference of the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association (OVFA) Lieutenant Rex Parks, Sr. of the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District was sworn in as president of the state association.

The OVFA works at the state legislative level in order to provide guidance to legislators on behalf of the states' volunteer firefighters. The OVFA also provides training to volunteers at their annual conference, which was held at the Chinook Winds Resort Hotel in Lincoln City this last weekend.

An Oregon native, Lieutenant Parks works as a heavy equipment mechanic for the Oregon Department of Transportation assigned to Santiam Junction. He became a volunteer firefighter in 1996, when he moved into the Cloverdale area. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2001 after attending the National Fire Academy in Maryland.

Lieutenant Parks attended his first OVFA conference in 1998, and has attended every conference since. In 2002 he became an Ambassador for the OVFA Board of Directors and has been involved with the board since then. He served as Director and Vice-President before being elected to the position of President this year. His initial goal as president is to work to obtain a tax check-off for Oregon volunteer firefighters. The funds raised would be used to provide more training opportunities for volunteer firefighters beyond what can be offered at the annual conference.

Lieutenant Parks continues to serve as a Cloverdale firefighter in addition to his new duties as OVFA President.