How To Become A Fire Inspector: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fire inspector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a Fire Inspector, you will conduct inspections of structures and other establishments to ensure no fire safety protocols are being violated. You also need to check if these establishments comply with the fire codes and laws. You will travel a lot as a Fire Inspector and deal with a lot of documents.

Being a Fire Inspector is no easy task. You need to have specific traits and skills to do your job well. For instance, you need to be detail-oriented to commit little to no mistakes because many things will be affected if you're not careful. Next, you need to have excellent physical strength. You will lift, move, and carry objects as a Fire Inspector, so you need to be able to do those things. Lastly, communication skills are essential in this job. You need to know how to efficiently communicate with the people you're working with at all times.

You can earn around $49,979 on average per year as a Fire Inspector. There is also a job growth rate of 8%, so you know that this job will always be in demand. You can take on other roles as you learn more in this role. Starting as a Fire Inspector, you can be a Fire Chief, a Chief of Operations, a Director, and a Director of Facilities.

ScoreFire InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,535

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.82%

Asian 1.19%

Black or African American 5.83%

Hispanic or Latino 11.85%

Unknown 7.26%

White 72.06%

Gender

female 8.05%

male 91.95%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fire inspector

Explore fire inspector education requirements

Most common fire inspector degrees

Associate

37.3 %

Bachelor's

32.4 %

High School Diploma

18.2 %

Start to develop specific fire inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
Fire Protection	27.32%
Customer Service	14.06%
NFPA	10.53%
Ladders	7.08%
Inspection Reports	2.84%

Complete relevant fire inspector training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fire inspectors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fire inspector based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fire inspector resumes.

Research fire inspector duties and responsibilities

Direct and lead a hands-on approach to resolve a contagious communicable disease within the APG community daycare centers (CDC).
Achieve advance levels of Fire/EMS management certification.
Lead infantry teams in combat operations, providing tactical and technical guidance to subordinates and professional support to superiors.
Conduct annual base facility fire inspections ensuring continual code compliance with NFPA s, AFI s and other applicable standards.

Prepare your fire inspector resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fire inspector resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a fire inspector resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable fire inspector resume templates

Build a professional fire inspector resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your fire inspector resume.