Fire marshal

A fire marshal or "Fire Commissioner", in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include fire code enforcement or investigating fires for origin and cause. Fire marshals may be sworn law-enforcement officers and are often experienced firefighters. In larger cities with substantially developed fire departments the local fire departments are sometimes delegated some of the duties of the fire marshal.

A fire marshal's duties vary by location. Fire marshals may carry a weapon, wear a badge, wear a uniform or plain clothes, and make arrests pertaining to arson and related offenses, or, in other localities, may have duties entirely separate from law enforcement, including building- and fire-code-related inspections. In many areas, the fire marshal is responsible for enforcing laws concerning flammable materials.

Fire Marshals provide advisory services to local fire departments and assist in code writing and enforcement. The Fire Investigation Section (FIS) of the OFM also inbased on various criteria from fire departments and police agencies.

Office of State Fire Marshal (SFM); purpose; qualifications – to promote public health and safety and to reduce hazards to life, limb and property, the office of SFM is established within the department. The office shall perform its duties by performing inspections and fire investigations, by providing public education and by adopting fire protection codes. The person appointed as SFM shall have extensive experience in the field of fire prevention and fire protection including administrative experience in such capacity.

Deputy fire marshals and assistants

The SFM may hire deputy fire marshals and appoint as assistant fire inspectors any of the fire chiefs of a city, town, county, volunteer fire company or protective district to act within their area of jurisdiction or upon the recommendation of the fire chief appoint other assistant fire inspectors if needed to function within the jurisdiction. The SFM may also appoint other assistant fire inspectors as are necessary in areas which are not under the jurisdiction of a fire chief.

Powers and duties; arson investigators

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