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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Monitoring
- Persuasion
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- Law and Government
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Chemistry
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.
- Inspect buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations, such as accumulations of combustible material, electrical wiring problems, and inadequate or non-functional fire exits.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (27.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (25.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (27%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Fire Inspectors and Investigators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 94% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 95% of occupations compared | 80% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 56% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 83% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 57% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 83% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 72% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 56% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 7.78%
- Constant contact with others: 92.22%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 5.74%
- Important: 0.75%
- Very important: 13.68%
- Extremely important: 79.83%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 5.72%
- Fairly important: 5.55%
- Important: 3.27%
- Very important: 35.32%
- Extremely important: 50.15%
n = 45, Incumbent 08/2022
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 5.98%
- Some freedom: 34.34%
- A lot of freedom: 59.69%
n = 46, Incumbent 08/2022
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.59%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.5%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 37.51%
- Every day: 31.4%
n = 45, Incumbent 08/2022
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.29%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.11%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.7%
- Every day: 11.6%
n = 45, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.14%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 39.34%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.95%
- Every day: 14.58%
n = 45, Incumbent 08/2022
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 20.81%
- Fairly serious: 11.17%
- Serious: 19.09%
- Very serious: 33.95%
- Extremely serious: 14.98%
n = 44, Incumbent 08/2022
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O*NET-SOC 33-2021.00 · SOC 33-2021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8