Welcome to the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal

Mission Statement

“To reduce the loss of life and property to fire and other disasters statewide through internal and external leadership, standards and training, prevention and education, and fire and arson investigation.”

The Division of State Fire Marshal is located within the Department of Financial Services, where Alex Sink not only serves as Florida’s Chief Financial Officer but also as Florida’s State Fire Marshal.

The Division of State Fire Marshal is dedicated to providing the highest quality services to all of our customers, from local fire departments who request our assistance with conducting fire investigations to citizens who want to attend one of the finest fire training colleges in the state.  Our Headquarters is located in Tallahassee, Florida; however, we have numerous field offices located across the state to help us serve our customers better.

Division of State Fire Marshal, who we are…

Did you know that the investigators working for the State Fire Marshal’s office are sworn law enforcement officers, who conduct complex investigations and have the ability to make arrest all over the state?  Our investigators conduct thousands of fire related investigations each year, with approximately 45% being determined to be arson.  Our investigators make arrest in 18% of the arson fires investigated, which is above the national average of 16%.  Fire investigations are complex and potentially dangerous.  To learn more about this field, please visit the link to the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations.

Did you know that the State Fire Marshal’s Forensic Laboratory receives and examines over 10,000 evidence submissions every year?  These submissions come from fire departments, police departments, sheriff’s offices and our own investigators.  The crime laboratory offers a wide variety of services to include examination of fire debris, explosives analysis,  image reproduction and forensic video analysis.  The forensic experts in the laboratory conduct consultations with investigators, prosecutors, and other attorneys on analyses and general aspects of forensic science.  These consultations are often in preparation for expert witness testimony in criminal court.  To learn more about this field, please visit the link to the Bureau of Forensic Fire and Explosive Analysis.

Did you know that the State Fire Marshal’s office issues over 3,000 basic fire fighter certifications every year?  And that is less than half of the certification examinations administered during a given year.  Our staff works hard to ensure students receive the best fire fighter training possible, whether students are attending one of the 35 certified training centers located across the state or attending the Florida State Fire College.  Our State Fire College trains over six thousand students per year in a wide variety of certification and professional development programs to include Pump Operator, Fire Officer, Fire Investigator, HAZMAT, etc.  To learn more about this field, please visit the link to the Bureau of Fire Standards and Training.

Did you know that the State Fire Marshal is responsible for inspecting over 14,000 state owned buildings every year?  Our staff’s 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.  To learn more about this field, please visit the link to the Bureau of Fire Prevention.

Did you know that the Florida Fire Incident Reporting Section collects over 1,800,000 fire and emergency reports per year? These local fire department and fire service reports are combined with the other states reports in the National Fire Incident Reporting System for use by the fire services in analysis and trends. The Florida reports are also used to form the basis for the State Fire Marshal's Annual Report "Florida Fires". To learn more about incident reporting, visit the link to Fire and Emergency Incident Reporting Section.

The State Fire Marshal has authority to implement rules that conform with the standards of fire safety and the need to protect Floridians from fire hazards.  Please take time to explore deeper into our web-site and discover the wide variety of projects our dedicated members are involved in.

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