Fire Marshal’s Office

Protecting life and property before emergencies happen.

We provide community safety education, enforcement of fire, building and life safety codes, investigation of fire causes for criminal, or product recall follow up and the application of adopted codes to construction projects.

The Fire Marshal’s Office is managed by Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli.

Services

Business Inspections

Business Inspection Information

The Fire Marshal’s Office maintains an inspection database of businesses, buildings and facilities within the City limits. This database contains:

  • Property ownership information
  • Construction and fire protection features
  • Business owner information
  • Emergency response history
  • Current and historical inspection records
  • Other important records

Each building, suite and/or business has a unique record I.D. number. It is important that the contact information is up to date. This information is often used to contact a responsible party after hours to notify them of a fire or other emergency.

Alarm Reduction

Unwanted Alarm Reduction

Responding to unwanted alarms diminishes the Fire Department’s readiness to respond to emergencies where minutes count.

The VFD has responded to as many as 1,700 unwanted alarms annually during the past several years. While examining the unwanted alarm data, a trend was identified that indicated an increasingly upward movement of unwanted alarms each year.

Since a large percentage of these alarm signals alarms are preventable, the Fire Marshal’s Office is asking everyone to take proactive measures to reduce false calls for the 9-1-1 dispatching center and emergency service personnel.

  • For single family residents, call your monitoring company immediately if you accidentally create a false/ unwanted alarm. If the signal was already sent, call 311 and let them know to cancel the emergency responders if appropriate.
  • For businesses, this means having your fire alarm and sprinkler systems inspected, tested and maintained by an endorsed fire protection system contractor on an annual basis
Citizen Access Portal

Use the Citizen Access Portal to conduct a variety of business tasks with the Fire Marshal’s Office.

Without registration you can

  1. Submit a declaration
  2. View a current list of Endorsed Fire Protection Contractors
  3. Securely pay invoices

With registration you can

  1. View inspection results
  2. Apply for fire code operational permits

Invoices

To pay invoices or view the contractor list you do not need to log in or register, you can use the invoice number or the inspection number.

Declarations

To process an inspection, just use the link in the correction notice provided to the fire inspector. There you may affirm and declare that the fire code violations have been corrected. Logging in is not required

Outdoor Burning

Recreational Burning Ban Lifted

Due to recent rains and anticipated cooler weather conditions, the recreational burn ban will be lifted for the City of Vancouver city limits. This will be effective 00:01 hrs. Saturday 9/23/2023.

These types of fires are once again allowed in the city limits of Vancouver: 

  • Recreational fires on your property in approved fire pits not larger than 3 feet in diameter or 2 feet in height.
  • Fires in outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and chimney-type devices 

Cooking outdoors in approved propane or charcoal barbecues is always allowed unless air quality restrictions are imposed by Southwest Clean Air Agency. Note: If you are in a rental dwelling, check your rental agreement and property management rules.

Cooking and heating fires in unmanaged situations, such as homeless camps, are illegal under city ordinance and will be extinguished and my result in a civil citation.  

Bon fires and burn barrels are never legal in the city limits of Vancouver.


Contact: Heidi Scarpelli, Vancouver Fire Marshal, 360-833-3418heidi.scarpelli@cityofvancouver.us