Fire Prevention Bureau

Planning for Your Safety

The Portsmouth Fire Marshal's Office provides essential support services for the department. Personnel assigned to this office are responsible for duties that span the scope of the fire service. Their duties include arson and pre-employment background investigation, enforcement of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code, business inspections, public education and prevention, and environmental crimes investigation. The Fire Marshal and the assistants of the Fire Marshal's Office are trained to national standards, and certified through the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct fire inspections and investigations. There is a Fire Marshal on-call 24 hours a day to respond to incidents requiring these services. Utilizing detective skills combined with fire suppression experience and specialized training, they determine the origin of a fire and the official cause.  In addition to investigation, the personnel assigned to the Fire Marshal's Office spend a great deal of time working within the community. This dedicated group of professionals administers the Fourth Grade Fire Safety Program. Annually, this program instructs 1,500 fourth graders in fire safety. Additionally, they conduct fire safety talks for businesses and private organizations upon request. They are also available to provide fire extinguisher training and demonstrations. In addition to the duties previously noted, the Fire Marshal's Office performs many numerous tasks including, but not limited to, fire watch during local events, Life Safety Inspections for places of assembly, as well as maintaining statistical data for the purpose of studying trends and identifying potential fire hazards in the Portsmouth community.
For more information click on a link below:

City of Portsmouth Fire Code:
Follow the on screen instructions to search for a specific code.
http://www.portsmouthva.gov/citycode.htm

US Fire Administration Public Information:
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/public/index.shtm

Cool stuff for the kids:
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/kids/
http://www.nfpa.org/sparky/
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/fireweek.html
http://www.firepals.org/KSN/index.htm