Fire Marshal

Office of the Fire Marshal

The Bucks County Fire Marshal Department advises the Bucks County Commissioners in matters regarding fire protection and safety within Bucks County. The Bucks County Fire Marshal Department operates and maintains a juvenile fire-setter intervention program, in an effort to address the juvenile fire-setting problem, and reduce the threat of fire from our young population. 

This Department also inspects all of the County Government's owned and leased properties for fire safety. We also inspect provider homes for the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging and Foster Care Homes for the Children and Youth Agency. We maintain the many fire alarms, security alarms and panic alarms in the numerous Bucks County owned and leased properties. The County of Bucks presently owns and operates its own Central Station to monitor all County owned emergency alarms. This Department also maintains thousands of Bucks County's portable fire extinguishers.

The Bucks County Fire Marshal Department maintains a staff of a Chief Fire Marshal, two Assistant Fire Marshals, a Fire Safety Inspector, Secretarial Staff and a Fire Safety Educator. We provide an on call Fire Marshal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assist local fire companies and fire marshals in the investigation of fires within various jurisdictions.

Fire Safe Homes

If your detectors are not connected, your home is not protected.

• Can you hear all of your smoke detectors from anywhere in your home, especially from your bedroom when you are asleep? 
• Do you have enough detectors to sense the earliest presence of smoke everywhere in your home?

If the answer to these questions are no, your home is at risk for smoke and fire. Not knowing that there is smoke in your home can lead to a fire that will surprise you. The consequences of not knowing can lead to a devastating fire with destruction, injury and death.

New wireless interconnected smoke detectors offer the opportunity to upgrade your smoke detectors yourself and eliminate the risks of an undetected fire.

Juvenile Fire-setter Intervention Program

Fire Professionals Aiding Children (Fire PAC) is a program that operates through the Bucks County Fire Marshal's Department and deals with the inappropriate and potentially dangerous use of fire and fire-setting behavior in young lives, between the ages of 3 to 17. The association between kids and fire are born from many different reasons:

• As a coping mechanism in response to excessive stress, frustration, anger, abuse, neglect, a lack of discipline, excessive discipline, experiencing losses in life, no father, peer rejection, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD), Oppositionally Deficient Disorder (ODD), and many others.
• Delinquent behavior, peer pressure, and influence
• Psychological issues or problems
• Simple curiosity

Early Fire-setting Interests

Juvenile fire-setting is a growing and largely untreated problem, in our nation today. The act of simple fire play or the known behavior of fire-setting, may initially seem non-threatening, but can reap havoc and devastation in seconds. The beginning of this potentially life threatening and dangerous behavior is often found in children such as those described above. These children and young people, may express a strong and unusual interest in fire as witnessed in a variety of ways, some of which include: 

• Possessing lighters and matches where there is no need for them
• Playing with lighters and matches
• Barbecue grill lighters
• Burning Barbecue Grills without reason
• Burning candles, papers, trash items
• Melting and  burning Plastics
• Any unusual or outstanding use or misuse of fire! 

Fire-setting is a learned and progressive behavior and does not go away on its own. It is often hidden from the parent's sight, yet at any given moment may become manifest and recognized as a "cry for help" to underlying problems! This behavior, if left un-addressed, will often continue and worsen in time, leading to greater problems.

Fire PAC Remediation

The Fire PAC program is equipped to handle this fire-setting behavior, by first meeting with the family and assessing the problem; determine the depth of fire involvement and degree of concern. Then, intercede with appropriate interventions that include, education the child and parents in Fire-Safety-Science Education, and assistance in finding Professional Counseling Services when necessary.

Fire PAC serves the public in concert with multiple disciplines that include: 

• Children and Youth Social Services
• Fire and Police Services
• Juvenile Probation
• Local School Systems
• Mental Health

Additional Information & Contact

If you have a question or need help, please call The Bucks County Fire Marshal's Department to ask about the Fire PAC program.