Maryland State Fire Marshal
| Office of the State Fire Marshal | |
| Abbreviation | OSFM |
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| Logo of the Office of the State Fire Marshal. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1894 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Maryland, United States |
| Legal jurisdiction | State of Maryland |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Pikesville, Maryland |
| Agency executive | William E. Barnard, State Fire Marshal |
| Parent agency | Department of State Police |
| Facilities | |
| Regional Offices | 6
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| Website | |
| State Fire Marshal | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) actively works in 17 of 23 Maryland counties. It works under the Department of State Police. The mission of the OSFM is "the protection of life and property from fire and explosion through the efforts of a diverse, highly trained and dedicated staff in partnership with other public safety agencies and the community. This is accomplished through aggressive criminal investigation of fire and explosive incidents, quality fire protection engineering services, enforcement of the State Fire Prevention Code, data collection and analysis, and public fire safety education."[1] The State Fire Marshal shall appoint Assistant State Fire Marshals, Special Assistant State Fire Marshals, and Deputy State Fire Marshals as he/she deems appropriate.
Duties
Per the Maryland State Public Safety Article, Title 6, Sub-title 3, section 05, the State Fire Marshal shall enforce all laws and statutes of the state of Maryland that relate to the following:
- the prevention of fire.
- the storage, sale, and usage of explosives, combustibles, or other dangerous articles, in solid, liquid, or gaseous form.
- the installation and maintenance of all kinds of equipment intended to control, detect, or extinguish fire.
- the means and adequacy of exit, in case of fire, from buildings and all other places in which individuals work, live, or congregate, except buildings that are used solely as dwelling houses for no more than two families.
- the suppression of arson and the regulations adopted by the Commission under Subtitle 2 of this title.
Qualifications
The State Fire Marshal shall be appointed by the Secretary from a list of three candidates given by the Commission.
(Per § 6-302. State Fire Marshal.) The appointed Maryland State Fire Marshal shall minimally have the following:
- a degree from an accredited college or university.
- have 5 years of recent progressively responsible experience, at least 3 years of which shall have been at the administrative level, in fire prevention inspection, fire investigation, fire safety promotion, fire protection engineering, fire fighting, or teaching fire safety engineering.