Office of the State Fire Marshal

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Mission

The mission of the State Fire Marshal is to protect life and property through the development and application of fire prevention engineering, education and enforcement.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal supports the mission of the CAL FIRE by focusing on fire prevention. The Office of the State Fire Marshal provides support through a wide variety of fire safety responsibilities including: regulating buildings in which people live, congregate, or are confined; by controlling substances and products which may, in and of themselves, or by their misuse, cause injuries, death and destruction by fire; by providing statewide direction for fire prevention within wildland areas; by regulation hazardous liquid pipelines; by developing and reviewing regulations and building standards; and by providing training and education in fire protection methods and responsibilities.

These achievements are accomplished through several major program elements including engineering, education, enforcement and support from the State Board of Fire Services.

Hot Topics

2011 Year in Review

Click here to view the 2011 report.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Visit the web site of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for read-only access to the NFPA codes and standards referenced in our state's statutes and/or regulations.

For more information click here.

Civilian Fire Fatalities Report

Emmitsburg, MD. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) issued a special report examining the characteristics of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings. The report, Civilian Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings (2008-2010) was developed by USFA’s National Fire Data Center and is based on 2008 to 2010 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

Click here to view the report.

Basement Fire Online Training Program

Underwriter's Laboratory announces the release of UL's latest firefighter safety research project on Basement Fires. This is two years of conducting numerous experiments to examine basement fire collapse hazards and fire dynamics to bring some more science to the streets. This is packaged as an online interactive training program accessible for free from UL fire service outreach website. The research takes into account tactical considerations suggested from the UL series of experiments to try to make firefighters smarter and safer.

For more information click here.

Fire Flow Water Consumption in Sprinklered and Unsprinklered Buildings: An Assessment of Community Impacts

Over the past thirty years, selected municipal water authorities have implemented strategies, including stand by fees and other policies, to recover costs for water consumed in fires in sprinklered buildings. Typically these fees are not directly related to sprinkler fire flows but rather are recognition of the fact that these flows are not metered and thus not accounted for in conventional water cost recovery mechanisms. In contrast, water consumption at fires at unsprinklered properties is typically not subject to fees nor metered at the hydrant. With the growing adoption of residential sprinkler ordinances in communities across the country, the National Fire Protection Association commissioned this study to assess the relative community impacts of water consumption in sprinklered and unsprinklered properties.
The study considered the water used in various building types with and without automatic sprinkler protection during a fire condition and estimated the water used per year for commissioning, inspection, testing and maintenance of buildings with systems for each building type. The anticipated water used for fire protection was compared with fees in sample jurisdictions; methods were developed to calculate fire water fees that are proportional to the anticipated volume of fire water used. Follow the link below for the document.

For more information click here.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs, Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) conference held in the spring, WUI brings together, federal, state and local wildland fire personal to address the toughest challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. Learn from the experts as they cover operational best practices, suppression strategies, high-hazard operations, procedures for preparedness and response and improving community planning projects. NWCG and NIMS certification available.
Click here for the complete schedule and to register.

US Fire Administration
As part of the United States Fire Administrations (USFA)Topical Fire Report Series, USFA releases Civilian Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings. This report takes a look at information collected between 2007 and 2009. Click here for the report.

California State Fire Marshal Water Discharge for Fire Protection Systems Task Force Best Management Practices Manual

The Best Management Practices Manual provides guidelines for the discharging water from fire protection systems in to the waters of California.

To download a copy of the Best Management Practices Manual click here.

California State Fire Marshal Smoke Alarm Task Force Report Analysis and Recommendations

Understanding, Utilization, and Effectiveness of Smoke Detection Technology including Ionization, Photoelectric, and other Technologies.

To download a copy of the report click here. For Information regarding the Smoke Alarm Task Force click here.

Carbon Monoxide Information and Approved Devices

For more information please Click here

Residential Fire Sprinklers in California and the 2010 California Residential Code

For more information please Click here

Hot Topics Archives

For more information please click here.

Frequently Accessed Information

Proposed Title 24 rulemaking.

For more information regarding Title 24 Code Adoptions, Please click here.

Proposed Title 19 rulemaking.

For more information regarding Title 19 Regulations, Please click here.

Title 24 California Building Standards.

For more information regarding the California Building and Fire Codes, Please click here.

Building Materials Listing Program
Click here for 2010-2011 Building Materials Listings.
Click here for information on product compliance policy for Wildland Urban Interface.

Annual Report
Click here to view the 2011 report.
Click here to view the 2010 report.
Click here to view the 2009 report.
Click here to view the 2008 report.
Click here to view the 2007 report.

2012 California Fire Laws Handbook (includes many building laws) is out and can be purchased through Lexis Nexis
Included are the statutes related to Arbitration of Firefighter Labor Disputes, Employment Regulations and Supervision, and Workers Compensation and Insurance.

This reliable, durable, user-friendly publication with an unbeatable price includes a quick reference index, a comprehensive index, and thorough table of contents

Features At-A-Glance:
• Annotations by LexisNexis' attorney-editors
• Comprehensive Index and Table of Content

Links below are for e-readers or for Mobipocket readers links are below.

California Fire Laws with Building Code Statutes 2012 Edition (eBook for e-readers, including Adobe® Digital Editions, Apple® iPad®, SONY® Reader)

California Fire Laws with Building Code Statutes 2012 Edition (eBook for Mobipocket readers, including Amazon® Kindle™)

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