COLLIN COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE

STEVEN M. DEFFIBAUGH

FIRE MARSHAL

Collin County Fire Marshal Staff

• Keiffer “Buddy” Harwell Jr. – Assistant Fire Marshal

• David L. Toler– Investigator

• Monica Love– Administrative Assistant

Staff Information

• Steve, Buddy, and David are licensed peace officers, licensed Arson Investigators, certified firefighters and certified as first responders, Buddy is an EMT and Steve and David are ECA.

• Keiffer and David are also licensed Fire Inspectors

Some of the Statutory Duties of the FMO found in LGC 352

• Investigations of all fires, explosions, or damages of any kind caused by a fire or explosion in unincorporated areas of a county

• Conduct fire inquests

• Conduct investigations within a municipality at the request of the SFM, municipality or fire chief

Plan Review and Inspections• Plan review for commercial businesses

• Inspection of businesses and issuance of certificate of occupancy or operations

• Annual inspections of licensed assisted living care centers, foster care homes, day care facilities, educational facilities

• Part of the review process for new sub-divisions

Fire Prevention

• Coordinate the work of various fire-fighting and fire prevention units in the County– Serve as Incident Commander at major incidents

at FD request

• Provide Fire Prevention Programs for school districts and private business– Programs in schools served mainly by VFDs– Provide fire prevention literature– Provide programs for businesses at their request

• General Fire Prevention, Fire Extinguisher training

Other Duties of the FMO

• Environmental Crimes– Appointed as Abatement Officer– Primary Illegal Dumping Investigation and

Enforcement (turned over to SO on 10-01-2009)

– Investigation of Water Code Violations– Investigation of Air Quality Code Violations– Public Education– Work the land fill on the 1st Saturday of each

month (duties turned over to the SO 10-01-2009)

Other Duties continued• Emergency Management Duties

– Monitor Severe Weather Events and the disseminating of important information to key officials 24/7, including fire weather

– Part of the Skywarn Network (volunteer)

• Maintaining the Collin County Mobile Incident Command Post (MICP)– Conduct training and scheduling for non-

emergency events – Deploy it on emergency events, local, regional or

statewide (Hurricane Gustav 3 days and Ike for 8 days)

• Maintain the 64 Automatic External Defibrillators owned by Collin County

Other Duties continued

• Appointed member of two EMS Advisory Boards– North and Eastern EMS Coalition– Southeastern EMS Coalition

• Secretary/Treasure for the Collin County Fire Fighters’ Association– Verifies all runs for payment

• Co-Chair of the County Fire Marshal Section of the Texas Fire Marshal Association

• Maintain Tier II reports submitted to the Collin County Local Emergency Planning Committee

• Conduct background investigations for Fire Departments and EMS that serve unincorporated areas of the County (GC 411.1237)

Other Duties continued• Conduct Mass Gathering Inspections• Conduct Wrecking Yard Inspections• Fireworks

– Inspect retail stands (52 stands July 2009)– Inspect sites where shows are scheduled – During the two fireworks seasons the FMO assists

the Sheriff’s Office in patrol to answer fireworks related calls to relieve deputies so they can answer more urgent calls

• Respond to Hazardous Material Incidents in unincorporated areas of Collin County

Other Duties continued

• Oversees the Collin County Arson Task Force

• Oversees and coordinates the Emergency Medical Service Disaster Response for Collin County

• Coordinates TIFMAS (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System) for Collin County for All Hazards and Wildland Fire response

Steven M. DeffibaughCollin County Fire Marshal825 N. McDonald, Suite 140

McKinney, Texas 75069972-548-5576

sdeffibaugh@co.collin.tx.us