Fire Marshal
The Fire Marshal conducts fire prevention inspections to commercial property annually.
If you feel a business is in violation of the fire code, ordinances or is conducting an unsafe action, you may contact the Fire Marshal for enforcement action.
Fire Codes
The City has adopted the 2021 edition of the International Fire Code to use as its model code, with some amendments found in chapter 5 of the list of ordinances. The City of Watauga has numerous codes and ordinances either created or amended to ensure a good quality of life. Many city departments use these codes to help citizens by maintaining a certain order in our lives. An example, are the fire codes and ordinances that help regulate safe buildings and practices.
Investigations
Fires are investigated for the following reasons:
Origin and Cause
We look to find where and why a fire started. This helps us in learning how to prevent fires and find common trends. Investigators frequently work with insurance companies to determine the cause of a fire, which may lead to subrogation of the loss.
Arson
The crime of arson may be suspected through the Origin & Cause investigation. At this time the area would be treated as a crime scene as in any other major crime and thoroughly investigated. It is our intent to build a case for presentation to the District Attorney for prosecution. The fire department has 6 fire and arson investigators that are also sworn peace officers to enforce the laws of the State of Texas pertaining to the crime of arson.