Fire Departments

Fire Investigation Assistance

The State Fire Marshal’s office assists local fire departments and law enforcement agencies with fire origin and cause investigations. To submit a request for fire investigation, contact State Radio, which will notify the on-call Deputy Fire Marshal to contact the requesting agency and coordinate any response.

Certificate of Existence

The State Fire Marshal’s Certificate of Existence program is required under N.D.C.C Chapter 18-04.  The program collects information from fire departments for statistical analysis, legislative reporting, distribution of insurance tax, and other uses. The report is required to be completed by each department’s fire chief between August 1 and October 30 each year.  Failure to report may affect North Dakota Fire Insurance Tax Distribution.

  • Fire Chiefs - REPORT HERE.
    • If a Certificate of Existence cannot be completed online, contact the State Fire Marshal’s office at (701) 328-5555 to request a paper form.

Fire Reporting Requirements

Fire Departments are required by statute to report fire losses to the State Fire Marshal within thirty days. In addition, any fire-related firefighter or civilian injury or fatality must be reported.

The ND Forest Service, in conjunction with the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Emergency Reporting is offering a free web based fire reporting tool that will report fires to both the State Fire Marshal’s Office (NFIRS) and the North Dakota Forest Service. Emergency Reporting has fully integrated North Dakota Forest Service’s wildland fire reporting requirements within the state NFIRS reporting solution. This means that only one report will need to be done to meet both organization’s requirements. More information is available from the Programs and Services page of the ND Forest Service website.

Alternatively, a department can report through NFIRS. For questions concerning NFIRS access or assistance please contact the State Fire Marshal’s Main Office at (701)328-5555.

Emergency Response Guidebooks

The State Fire Marshal’s Office distributes Emergency Response Guidebooks (ERG) to local agencies that may encounter hazardous materials response.  The ERG is issued by the US Department of Transportation every four years.

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