The Fire Marshal's office fulfills a support role in the overall mission of the Henrico County Division of Fire. The office is responsible for enforcing the current Statewide Fire Prevention Code, which has been adopted by the County of Henrico. Also, the following responsibilities fall under the Fire Marshal's office: issuing permits, performing safety inspections, reviewing plans for development, investigations of incidents involving fires, environmental crimes and bombings, as well as public education, public information and other related issues.

The Fire Marshal and all Assistant Fire Marshals are NFPA certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The office conducts an average of three hundred fire investigations annually, with a clearance rate well above the national average. Assistant Fire Marshals conduct well over a thousand business inspections each year. In the average year, they issue over a thousand certificates of occupancy, as well as permits for burning, blasting and welding. The office has a Fire Protection Engineer, who performs the review on all plans of development; these amount to several hundred a year. In addition, personnel assigned to our fire stations perform approximately three to four thousand inspections of small businesses annually.

The Fire Marshal's Office is commanded by a Division Chief, and is supervised by two Captains who function as the section's executive officers and the hazardous material coordinator. The Lieutenants supervise code compliance, investigations and public education.

Additional Functions Performed in the Fire Marshal's Section:

Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program
Intern Program Management
Code Development and Implementation
Public Speaking Engagements
Public Information resource
Instructors (fire and police academies)
Program Analysis and Management
Large Loss Fire Investigations
Fire Death(s) Investigation/Analysis
Research and Information for Environmental Studies
Hazardous Material Tier II Reporting
Coordinator for Henrico Local Emergency Planning Committee

Permits

Plan Review Guidelines:
Henrico Fire Staff Developer Review Criteria (PDF)

For more information email the Fire Marshal's Office or call 501-4914.

Lock Boxes

Lock boxes provide firefighters with keys to buildings when they need access during after-hours periods. The boxes are secure and nearly impenetrable steel key lock boxes purchased by residential and commercial property owners. They are mounted near the entrance to the property and may hold keys, electronic card keys and other vital tools. The boxes can be ordered with a tamper switch allowing the access to be monitored by a security system.

The Supra Safe Lock Box information Brochure and order form is located here (PDF). Please call the Fire Marshal's Office at 804-501-4900 for questions and additional information.

Before installation, contact the Fire Marshal's Office to assist with best placement consistent with Division of Fire requirements. Property managers must coordinate a meeting with Fire Marshal's Office staff to place the keys and lock the box. It is necessary that they also be contacted whenever keys to the building are updated or changed so that a new set of keys can be placed into the lock box.