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Bradley County commissioners press fire chief on creating full‑time fire marshal, equipment priorities in budget talks
Summary
At a Finance Committee budget hearing, Chief Stewart said the county’s fire marshal is part‑time and handles inspections, investigations and prevention; commissioners disputed the need and cost of a full‑time marshal and probed staffing, equipment orders and ISO readiness.
Bradley County’s Finance Committee questioned the county fire chief on Wednesday about a budget request to create a full‑time fire marshal position, equipment needs and staffing shortfalls.
Chief Stewart told the committee the county currently has a part‑time fire marshal, Michael Baker, who conducts all county fire inspections, prepares pre‑plans for commercial sites (including churches), runs the smoke‑alarm program and carries out fire investigations. "We are three short," Stewart said when asked about staffing, and he noted the current rookie class is "at week eight of 12. They'll graduate May 15."
The chief said the marshal role is largely an expense: "The only thing we do get in is on our fire prevention for all of our school systems. We get around $7,000 for that," which he characterized as separate from general taxpayer revenues. He also said certified fire marshals "do have the authority to issue citations" when they are properly post‑certified, though burn‑law citations are…
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