About Us

What is SFFMA?

Organized in 1876, the State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association is Texas’ oldest and largest fire service association, serving the fire and emergency responders of Texas and beyond. We are a trade association that exists to improve the Texas fire service. SFFMA’s membership includes over a thousand fire departments, more than 16,600 individual members, about 1,000 industrial facilities, fire marshal offices, EMS departments, and many fire service-related organizations committed to the betterment of the Texas emergency services. We represent paid and volunteer firefighters across the state. 

Legislative Activities

SFFMA is actively involved in addressing legislative issues that affect the fire, EMS, and industrial emergency services in Texas, and has been instrumental in ensuring that the interests of our emergency personnel are kept at the forefront of discussions at the capitol and throughout the state.

For example, SFFMA was heavily involved in the creation of House Bill 2604, which is a grant fund administered through the Texas A&M Forest Service that awards millions of dollars every year to fire departments in need. Other SFFMA legislative impacts include:

  • Passage of a mandatory line-of-duty-death (LODD) investigation statute

  • Creation and care of the state firefighter's monument on capitol grounds

  • Advocating for or against legislative bills in each session on behalf of the state’s fire service, particularly the volunteer service.

Benefits to Our Membership

In addition to legislative representation, SFFMA offers numerous other benefits to its members, including insurance coverage, affordable legal assistance, purchasing power for all kinds of goods and services, travel discounts, and other valuable benefits.

A key component to the association’s work includes a certification program available to its members. Personnel can pursue and obtain SFFMA-issued certifications in numerous fire service disciplines such as firefighter, fire inspector, fire investigator, fire service instructor, fire officer, and several others. All SFFMA certifications are based upon the accepted standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). SFFMA is one of the primary certificate-issuing entities in the state for fire service personnel.

Unity and Strength

SFFMA maintains critically important relationships with other Texas fire service agencies and organizations such as:

  • The Texas Fire Training School at Texas A&M University

  • The state’s industrial community via the Texas Industrial Emergency Services Board (a division of SFFMA)

  • The Texas Fire Chiefs’ Association

  • The Texas State Association of Firefighters

  • The State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts

  • The Texas Fire Marshals’ Association

  • The Texas Commission on Fire Protection, the State Fire Marshal (a division of the Texas Department of Insurance), the Texas A&M Forest Service, and other agencies

  • The Texas Fire Facilities Fund and Government Capital Corp., which provides tax-exempt financing for stations, equipment and fire apparatus