Fire marshal
Fire marshals may carry a weapon, wear a badge, wear a uniform or plain clothes, can drive marked or unmarked cars, 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 Ontario, the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM), part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General (Ontario), provides support to municipal fire departments, sets training requirements for firefighters, and advises the government on legislation.
[1] In Arizona, fire marshals are employed at the municipal, county, and state levels of government, and possess law enforcement powers where they relate to arson investigation.
[5] The second authority designated as fire marshals is the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) who is the state building official for all California hospitals.
This responsibility is paramount in California due to the frequency and intensity of earthquake seismic activity it experiences.
These law enforcement officers conduct complex investigations and have the ability to make arrests statewide.
SFM code enforcement and inspection activities also reach over 16,000 public and private buildings; to include prisons, universities, public schools, thousands of fuel-fired boiler systems, hundreds of construction mining sites and explosive storage locations each year.
Additionally, the SFM shall adopt and administer rules prescribing standards for the safety and health of occupants of educational and ancillary facilities pursuant to ss.
The position of fire marshal is a promotional civil service title and all officers have served several years as active firefighters.
Unlike many other jurisdictions, the New York City fire marshals are armed police officers with full powers of arrest who generally work in pairs and investigate serious fires with the New York City Police Department.
New York City Fire Marshals undergo comprehensive police training to include annual weapons qualification at Camp Smith.
New York Fire Marshals often receive special training at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, as well as attending investigative classes conducted by the NYPD and explosives training classes sponsored by the federal government in Socorro, New Mexico.
Under New York State Consolidated Laws Article 35.00 section 35.20 "deadly physical force may be used in order to terminate or prevent commission of arson."
Lowery would ultimately rise to the top of the department, being appointed the city's fire commissioner in 1965.
At times New York fire marshals work undercover and conduct surveillance operations.
They also coordinate with federal, state and local law enforcement because arsonists are frequently involved in other criminal activity as well, and some investigations, like the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, require multiple agencies' skills.
The first line of duty NYC fire marshal death was from the September 11, 2001, attacks when Marshal Ronald Paul Bucca, disregarding the danger, rushed into the World Trade Center to assist in the rescue of civilians trapped within the towers.
Professional training outside the state at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia, and other locations for New York City marshals was made possible through federal counter-terror grants, subsequent to 9/11, actively supported by Mayor Mike Bloomberg[citation needed].
New York City Fire Marshal's training exceeds the requirements of level II.
Both levels of Fire Marshals often testify in civil and criminal court proceedings, and respond and collaborate with insurance investigators.
The mission is to prevent the inception or recurrence of fire and hazardous conditions by providing fire prevention and hazardous materials-related educational, enforcement, inspection, investigative, plans review, and technical services to the businesses, industries, residents, and visitors of Fairfax County and the towns of Clifton, Herndon, and Vienna.
They also have the authority to close unsafe premises and investigate any actual perceived fire safety offence.
