What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called arson and bomb investigator, arson investigator, bomb investigator and certified fire and explosion investigator.
$75,920
Median pay a year
13,800
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Fire Inspector and Investigator resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Examining debris
Inspecting facilities
Inspecting equipment
Developing fire safety programs
Educating the public on fire safety
Directing fire fighting
Issuing permits or legal documents
Examining crime scenes
Investigating organizational crimes
Interviewing people
Identifying needed actions
Evaluating employee performance
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Fire Inspector and Investigator
Summary
Fire inspector and investigator conducting inspections to identify fire hazards, enforce regulations, and analyze evidence to determine causes of fires and explosions
Experience
Fire Inspector and Investigator
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Conducted inspections and acceptance testing of newly installed fire protection systems
Inspected buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations
Prepared and maintained reports of investigation results and records of convicted arsonists
Testified in court cases involving fires, suspected arson, and false alarms
Analyzed evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion
Photographed damage and evidence related to causes of fires or explosions
Examined fire sites and collected evidence such as glass, metal fragments, and accelerant residue
Inspecting facilities, Inspecting equipment, Developing fire safety programs
Leading & Coordinating
Educating the public on fire safety, Directing fire fighting
Education
Certificate Your training program, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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Prepared and maintained investigation reportsTestified in court cases involving firesPackaged evidence in securely closed containersConducted inspections of fire protection systemsAnalyzed evidence to determine fire causesPhotographed damage and evidence for documentation
becomes
On your resume
Prepared and maintained comprehensive investigation reports detailing findings and evidence.
Packaged collected evidence in securely closed containers to ensure integrity during investigations.
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Add what improved because your reports were detailed.
The line
Prepared and maintained comprehensive investigation reports that helped secure convictions in arson cases
Add what improved because your reports were detailed.
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Helped secure convictions in arson casesIncreased clarity for court testimoniesStreamlined the investigation process
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In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Mention if you were trusted to handle sensitive evidence.
The line
Packaged collected evidence in securely closed containers to ensure integrity during investigations.
Mention if you were trusted to handle sensitive evidence.
Pick one that fits
Handled evidence for high-profile casesTrained others on evidence packagingManaged evidence for multiple investigations
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In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Fire Inspector and Investigator does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
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.
What it pays
How much does a Fire Inspector and Investigator make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$58,690
Median
$75,920
75th percentile
$95,120
About 13,800 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AL
$61,780
$78,110
$80,460
AR
$45,270
$57,990
$74,050
AZ
$62,140
$74,780
$78,420
CA
$79,370
$99,230
$122,730
CO
$79,260
$85,750
$99,280
CT
$60,460
$80,490
$97,830
FL
$60,210
$75,660
$94,260
GA
$54,560
$64,550
$79,650
IA
$54,310
$81,860
$95,760
ID
$66,960
$72,810
$97,700
IL
$55,470
$62,400
$93,100
IN
$59,280
$73,340
$85,320
KS
$50,000
$64,290
$83,910
KY
$48,520
$55,970
$61,360
LA
$47,700
$64,820
$82,190
MA
$71,820
$81,140
$97,510
MD
$79,640
$98,730
$100,990
ME
$36,050
$58,240
$79,430
MI
$67,600
$77,460
$90,570
MN
$69,540
$84,410
$96,920
MO
$44,460
$77,240
$85,710
MS
$49,280
$55,260
$61,660
NC
$46,940
$66,820
$78,990
ND
$70,130
$80,320
$84,930
NE
$56,120
$76,770
$86,840
NH
$65,170
$75,230
$82,570
NJ
$48,620
$60,100
$81,080
NM
$60,760
$64,680
$71,860
NV
$78,420
$93,450
$104,260
NY
$60,510
$73,920
$86,990
OH
$49,690
$59,280
$75,230
OK
$32,180
$37,320
$65,330
OR
$68,230
$115,080
$127,660
PA
$37,220
$59,080
$77,190
RI
$61,670
$78,100
$87,690
SC
$55,150
$61,890
$76,910
TN
$52,880
$63,400
$80,460
TX
$69,370
$82,390
$94,710
UT
$58,720
$72,760
$84,460
VA
$59,060
$70,460
$81,280
WA
$95,640
$122,900
$130,740
WI
$48,950
$66,600
$87,140
WV
$46,440
$52,490
$59,520
Other names
Other names for this job
arson and bomb investigator, arson investigator, bomb investigator, certified fire and explosion investigator, certified fire investigator, CFI, certified vehicle fire investigator, CVFI, fire and explosion investigator, fire investigator, alarm inspector, alarm sprinkler inspector.
More names for this work
building inspector, canine handler, cfei, code official, fire alarm and fire sprinkler inspector, fire alarm inspector, fire alarm systems tech, fire alarm systems technician, fire alarm tech, fire alarm technician, fire code inspector, fire equipment inspector, fire extinguisher inspector, fire extinguisher sprinkler inspector, fire extinguisher tech, fire extinguisher technician, fire hazard inspector, fire inspector, fire marshall, fire official, fire prevention inspector, fire prevention officer, fire prevention specialist, fire protection fabricator, fire protection inspector, fire protection specialist, fire safety inspector, fire safety officer, fire safety specialist, fire sprinkler apparatus inspector, fire sprinkler foreman, fire sprinkler inspector, fire system inspector, fire systems inspector, inspector, k9 handler, smoke inspector, sprinkler inspector, water based fire protection inspection testing and maintenance technician.
If you served
Military jobs this work counts as
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
Starting a Fire Inspector and Investigator resume with no experience
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This page is about the occupation Fire Inspectors and Investigators. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.