Mark Van Der Feyst

Mark van der Feyst began his career in the fire service in 1998 with the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company in Pennsylvania, where he served as a firefighter and training officer for four years. From there he joined the Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services, Canada, where he served for three years. Currently Mark works for theFort Gratiot Fire Department as a firefighter. Before joining the fire service, he was a design engineer for SimplexGrinnell for five years.

Mark graduated from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology as a fire protection engineering technologist and the Justice Institute of British Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in fire and life safety studies. He is currently pursuing his masters of science in safety, security, and emergency management at Eastern Kentucky University.

Mark is an international instructor, teaching in Canada, the United States, and India. He is a local level suppression instructor for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy and an instructor for the Justice Institute of British Columbia Bachelor of Fire and Safety Studies degree program.

His published works include a monthly column called “Back to Basics” in Canadian Firefighter and EMS Quarterly and Firefighting in Canada magazines, a monthly column called “The Domino Effect: Handicap Firefighting” at Firerescue1.com, weekly fireground tips on Firerescue1.com, and various articles for other fire service publications, including Fire Engineering. He is currently married to his wife Joan and they have three lovely children, Luke, Adam, and Hannah. Mark can be reached at mark@firestar-services.com.