For the first time in over three and half years, the Office of the State Fire Marshal welcomed its newest, non-lateral, sworn investigator. Deputy State Fire Marshal Sierra Hawkins graduated from the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission Academy in Sykesville earlier today.
Friends, family, and command staff attended the graduation and witnessed Hawkins take the solemn oath to serve and protect the residents of Maryland. Next week, she will begin the agency's intense field training program, which could take nearly six months before she investigates fires and explosions autonomously.
Hawkins, at 23, is one of the youngest investigators appointed in the agency's history and our first non-lateral since the fall of 2020. She graduated from the University of New Haven with a major in Fire Science and a minor in English and interned with the Southern Regional Office in 2022.
"I am pleased to welcome DSFM Hawkins to our family, and on her career protecting the citizens from fire and explosions," said Chief Deputy and Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray. "Over the past year, she has demonstrated her unwavering commitment to public safety and the law enforcement profession and completed a rigorous training curriculum at the Academy. I am confident she will continue to embody our agency's longstanding legacy of providing high quality, professional investigations and code enforcement to those we serve."
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is committed to recruiting individuals from all backgrounds with the necessary qualifications to serve our diverse and inclusive community. Deputy Hawkins is the first black female to hold the Deputy State Fire Marshal position in the agency's 130-year history.
Hawkins has been assigned to the Lower Eastern Regional Office, which consists of Dorchester, Wicomico, and Somerset counties.
She will continue her studies in fire, arson, and explosion investigations by attending numerous courses at the National Fire Academy, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, National Center for Explosives Training Center, the International Association of Arson Investigators, and National Association of Fire Investigators.
