Fire Marshal Thomas Shemeley

INTRODUCTION

The Office of the Fire Marshal is charged with the responsibility to reduce the occurrence of fire within the Township of Cherry Hill and enhance the safety of residents and visitors alike through a comprehensive program involving building inspections, plan review, fire safety education, investigation of fires and a residential smoke detector program.

Staff assigned to the office consists of the Chief Fire Marshal, three uniformed Fire Inspectors/Investigators, one full time Administrative Support Specialist and two part time, civilian residential smoke detector inspectors.

INSPECTIONS/CODE ENFORCEMENT

The Office of the Fire Marshal is responsible for inspecting all commercial and multi family occupancies within the Township as well as performing smoke detector inspections for the resale of single family dwellings. Approximately 2,500 commercial inspections and 1,100 residential smoke detector inspections are performed annually. Inspectors enforce regulations established by the Uniform Fire Safety act of New Jersey and the National Fire Protection Association as well as local ordinances.

Inspections will focus on addressing conditions within and around buildings that could potentially cause a fire, contribute to fire spread, or are likely to endanger building occupants if a fire were to occur. Inspectors will also assure that all built-in features such as suppression systems and detection systems are functioning properly.

FIRE INVESTIGATIONS

The term “Fire Investigation” describes a broad range of activities that deal with post fire data gathering and analysis to document fire ignition scenarios, fire development, material identification, and human behavior and fire safety lessons learned. Fire investigations are conducted to determine what can be learned from a particular fire incident. Investigations are usually concerned with ignition scenario and area of origin determination with particular emphasis on the investigation of incendiary, suspicious or fatal fires. All investigators assigned to the Fire Marshal’s Office have undergone training through the N.J. Division of Criminal Justice and are certified through the National Association of Fire Investigators as Certified Fire and Explosion Investigators.

If you need to contact someone from the Fire Marshal's Office, they can be reached at 856-795-1340.