Ames Tribune
AMES, Iowa — The man who helped build the Colo volunteer fire department and led it as chief for 32 years has died after a three-year battle with cancer.
Mark Farren died Sunday. He was 58. Farren was being remembered Monday as a dedicated community member who upgraded equipment and training for the fire department in the eastern Story County community of about 875 people.
Farren followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Colo Fire Department in 1976. “He built the department,” said John Wilson, the town’s mayor and a lifelong friend of Farren. “Nobody in the community would understand how many hours he put in there. It was just countless hours, getting trucks ready, training. He ate, drank and breathed the fire department.”
Full story: Longtime Colo fire chief dies