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Fire Services Development

Use the index below to go directly to a particular section on this page:

State Fire Coordinator
Mission of Fire Services Development
Fire Services Development Forms
Fire Services Development Contact Information

Brad Smith - State Fire Coordinator

Brad Smith joined the MS State Fire Marshal’s Office in November 2009 as the State Deputy Fire Coordinator. In July 2014 he was promoted to the position of State Fire Coordinator. Prior to joining the Fire Marshal’s Office, he served as the County Fire Coordinator and Emergency Management Director for Chickasaw county for 20 years and was a member of the Houston Fire Department from 1983 – 2009. Brad currently serves as Mississippi’s representative to the National Volunteer Fire Council and the National Fire Information Council. He also serves on the boards of the Mississippi Burn Camp Foundation and the Mississippi Fire Fighter’s Association. He has accumulated over 900 hours of training through the MS State Fire Academy and is a graduate of the Mississippi Executive Fire Officer program.

Mission of Fire Services Development

The Mississippi Legislature created Fire Services Development in 1988 to carry out two principal functions:

Provide accountability for approximately $16 million in state fire protection funds distributed annually to Mississippi’s counties and municipalities. Miss. Code Ann. § 83-1-37 and 83-1-39.
Provide guidance to the state’s fire service to assist in the enhancement of and accelerate the growth of fire protection capabilities throughout the State, particularly in rural areas. Miss. Code Ann. § 17-23-1.

Since 1995, Fire Services Development has administered the Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program (RFTAAP), which provides matching fund grants up to $70,000 for fire truck purchases in rural areas. All counties have received these grants. Over 770 fire trucks have been purchased through this program and furnished to communities resulting in at least 1.3 million citizens across the state benefitting from the program.

State agencies and policy makers now have information about fire services and related public expenditures. This program established state purchase contracts that have reduced costs of fire equipment for the State's 757 fire departments. Most of the 13,000 plus volunteer firefighters, as well as many career firefighters are beneficiaries of the various insurance coverage brought about through Fire Services Development program activities.

In addition, the Division is responsible for the management and administration of the State’s incident reporting system, MS Fire Bridge. This system is utilized by the Division to analyze incident data, identify fire service trends and develop both short and long term solutions aimed towards improving fire service capabilities throughout the State.