Fire marshal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is a member of a fire department responsible for investigating fires. Fire marshals are generally both sworn law-enforcement officers and experienced firefighters.
A fire marshal's duties vary by location. Fire marshals may carry a weapon, wear a badge, 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 states and provinces, the fire marshal is responsible for enforcing laws concerning flammable materials.
The US definition of a fire marshal should not be confused with that of the UK. Fire marshals, sometimes known as fire wardens in the UK, are civilians trained to assist in fire safety procedures at businesses and other oragnisations, usually employeess.[1]. However, UK fire and rescue services - FRS - do provide fire marshal training, aimed at fire prevention.
In the UK, the senior fire officer is responsible for firefighting operations, and cases of arson are investigated by the police. No UK FRS has fire officers with powers of arrest, although some FRS do have their own specialist fire investigation teams, who act as expert witnesses.
[edit] New York City fire marshals
New York City's Bureau of Fire Investigation, part of the FDNY has about 100 fire marshals and 40 supervising fire marshals. The marshals work in pairs and investigate serious fires. In a typical year they are assigned about 4,000 fires within the five boroughs of the city.
The city's first fire marshal, George H. Sheldon, was appointed in 1873, eight years after the reorganization of the fire department into a professional (non-volunteer) department in 1865. Robert O. Lowery became the first African-American fire marshal in 1946. Lowery would ultimately rise to the top of the department, being appointed the city's fire commissioner in 1965.
Fire marshals have conducted a number of important investigations, including the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. They also work 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.
No fire marshal had ever died in the line of duty until September 11, 2001 when Marshals Ronald Paul Bucca and James Devery rushed into the World Trade Center to assist fire victims — and get a head start on the investigation. (They had worked on the 1993 investigation at the same site.) Devery led a wounded woman to safety, but Bucca died.
