Fire Inspectors and Investigators
Inspect buildings to detect fire hazards and enforce local ordinances and state laws, or investigate and gather facts to determine cause of fires and explosions.
- Median pay
- $75,920
- Doing it now
- 14,700
- By 2035
- Up 4.2%
- Usually needs
- Postsecondary nondegree award
a year
across the country
1,600 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Prepare and maintain reports of investigation results, and records of convicted arsonists and arson suspects.
- Testify in court cases involving fires, suspected arson, and false alarms.
- Package collected pieces of evidence in securely closed containers, such as bags, crates, or boxes, to protect them.
- Conduct inspections and acceptance testing of newly installed fire protection systems.
- Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion.
- Photograph damage and evidence related to causes of fires or explosions to document investigation findings.
- Examine fire sites and collect evidence such as glass, metal fragments, charred wood, and accelerant residue for use in determining the cause of a fire.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Fire ProtectionSee 52 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $75,920 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.