Working out of a small room in the Public Safety Center, six people are so passionate about their jobs that they view students as family.

These people are the deputy fire marshals and the fire marshal of the University.  The Office of the University Fire Marshal is charged with making the University as safe as possible for students, faculty and staff.

“Everything about this job is personal to me,” Stevenson said.  “I view all the students as my sons and daughters.”

To keep the University safe, the Environmental Health and Safety Centerhas a wide variety of tasks, according to Fire Marshal Bill Stevenson.

“Originally, we started out as a fire protection service 25 years or more ago,” Stevenson said.  “It started as a group of people doing inspections around campus.”

The fire and life safety view of the job of the University fire marshal and deputy fire marshals has evolved over time.  Their job went from just room inspections to including tasks such as public education and reviewing plans for buildings on campus.

“What we do is no different from the Raleigh Fire Department,” Stevenson said.  “If you put everything that the Raleigh Fire Department does on a shelf, the only thing you take down that we don’t do is fire suppression.”

But, the Environmental Health and Safety Centerdoes put out small fires, according to Stevenson.

Aside from Stevenson, there are five deputy fire marshals and one safety technician who work in the office.  The safety technician is in charge of checking fire extinguishers throughout campus.

The students at the University are the most important aspect to the Environmental Health and Safety Center, according to Stevenson.

“Without students, the fire protection services would not be necessary,” Stevenson said.  “My job is to make sure you are safe.”