Will AI replace Fire Inspectors and Investigators?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
37/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 58% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 51% of the work
What the job involves
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.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(15)
- Instruct children about the dangers of fire.
- Prepare and maintain reports of investigation results, and records of convicted arsonists and arson suspects.
- Coordinate efforts with other organizations, such as law enforcement agencies.
- Write detailed reports of fire inspections performed, fire code violations observed, and corrective recommendations offered.
- Identify corrective actions necessary to bring properties into compliance with applicable fire codes, laws, regulations, and standards, and explain these measures to property owners or their representatives.
and 10 more
Out of reach(15)
- Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion.
- Photograph damage and evidence related to causes of fires or explosions to document investigation findings.
- Inspect buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations, such as accumulations of combustible material, electrical wiring problems, and inadequate or non-functional fire exits.
- Examine fire sites and collect evidence such as glass, metal fragments, charred wood, and accelerant residue for use in determining the cause of a fire.
- Conduct fire code compliance follow-ups to ensure that corrective actions have been taken in cases where violations were found.
and 10 more
Also called
Arson Investigator · Fire Inspector · Fire Investigator · Fire Prevention Inspector · Fire Safety Inspector · Arson and Bomb Investigator · Canine Handler (K9 Handler) · K9 Handler
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics