About The Madera County Office of the Fire Marshal
The Madera County Fire Marshal’s Office (Department of Fire Prevention for Development) provides plan review and inspection services to all unincorporated areas of Madera County in order to implement the fire and life safety regulations and building standards established and adopted by the State Fire Marshal and County Board of Supervisors. In addition, the department performs fire and life safety clearance inspections in State Licensed facilities and is charged with annual inspections of schools, motel/hotels and apartment buildings as well as regular inspections of public assembly buildings and facilities using or storing acutely hazardous materials. The Fire Marshal also serves as the appointed “County Fire Warden” and is responsible for ensuring that the regulations stipulated in the California Public Resources Code 4290 are applied to new development and structures in the State Responsibility Areas of Madera County. The department is established within the Resource Management Agency and consists of the four full-time positions; the Fire Marshal (Department Director), two Fire Prevention Officers (non-sworn), and one clerical position.
Whether your project is a single family dwelling, a residential subdivision, commercial or agricultural, or a structure in the foothills, our job is to ensure that for any type of emergency, your local fire department will be able to reach your site quickly and safely in any conditions, have room to operate their equipment, and have access to enough fire protection water to successfully fight a fire on the property. In many areas of the Madera County, existing roads and water supplies are not adequate or are non-existent, and they must be provided or improved by the developing party. The Madera County Office of the Fire Marshal Standards have been developed which give the property owner reasonable alternatives to providing both fire protection water and fire department access to the site. Downloadable copies of the Fire Marshal Standards have been provided for your use, along with a guide to assist you in determining which standards are appropriate for your project. If at any time during your project, as long as it is prior to submittal, you would like to discuss anything, feel free to stop in and speak with one of our Fire Prevention Officers and/or the County Fire Marshal. Your questions will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Please note: We request that you be patient when waiting for a response to phone calls or for information you have requested. We will make every effort to respond within a reasonable time, however turn-around time for plan review and response to phone calls or requests for information will be largely dependent upon workload.
Please keep in mind that all staff comments are preliminary until final submittal of your plans.
