Fire Protection Services in San Diego County

Start with your address

San Diego County has 18 incorporated cities and a large unincorporated area. Which office reviews your plans and walks your building depends on which side of a city line you sit. It's the first thing to sort out.

• Unincorporated county: Fire and emergency response comes from San Diego County Fire, with CAL FIRE providing the service under contract with the County. Business inspections for Consolidated Fire Code compliance inside the San Diego County Fire Protection District, including commercial fire protection systems, are done by the County Fire Marshal's Community Risk Reduction Division. The same program also covers the Deer Springs Fire Protection District.
• City of San Diego: The San Diego Fire-Rescue Fire Prevention Bureau does fire inspections inside the city and the Port of San Diego.
• Other cities: Many run their own fire prevention bureaus. Vista is one. Ask your city.

The code books differ as well. The County keeps its amendments to the 2025 California Fire Code in the 2026 San Diego County Consolidated Fire Code, and the City of San Diego puts its own amendments in its Municipal Code (effective January 1, 2026). In an unincorporated district? Confirm the effective date with the County Fire Marshal.

Not sure which office you answer to? Call (619) 568-5440 or email socal@1profire.com with your address and a list of the systems on site.

What each system needs, and how often

Every system runs on its own calendar. Tags expire. Here is the general schedule under the NFPA standards and California Title 19:

• Fire extinguishers: You check them monthly. A certified technician services them once a year and records it on the tag. Stored-pressure dry chemical units also get a six-year teardown, and hydrostatic testing comes every 12 years for dry chemical and every 5 years for CO2, water and wet chemical (Class K) units.
• Fire sprinklers: NFPA 25 calls for quarterly and annual inspections, plus a five-year internal pipe assessment and gauge replacement or testing. Title 19 adds a five-year service and certification by a State Fire Marshal licensed contractor.
• Fire alarms: Tested at least once a year under NFPA 72. Some devices need more.
• Kitchen hood suppression: Every six months. Metal-alloy fusible links get replaced at least that often, and the kitchen also needs a Class K portable extinguisher.
• Private fire hydrants: Flow tested and inspected every year under NFPA 25. Repairs fall under our fire hydrant service.

Staff count too. If you provide extinguishers for employees to use, OSHA requires fire extinguisher training when they're hired and at least once a year after that.

Who does the work

Our California work is performed by Hedrick Fire Protection, which holds C-16 (fire protection) and C-10 (electrical) contractor licenses and is licensed by the California State Fire Marshal under Title 19 for portable extinguisher service and for inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems. That includes the five-year sprinkler certification. Ask every bidder for the same.

Adding or changing a system

Plans come first. Inside the San Diego County Fire Protection District, sprinkler, fire alarm and other fire protection system plans go to the district as a deferred submittal, after your building plans are approved. Outside the county's districts, you submit to the fire authority for your own area.

Hydrant flow tests need the water agency. The San Diego County Water Authority sells water wholesale, and 22 retail member agencies deliver it across the region; the City of San Diego Water Department is one of them. Contact the retail agency that serves your site.

Recent work in the county

A San Diego restaurant had 30 days from the fire marshal to get its hood system compliant. Read how we met the fire marshal's 30-day deadline. In north county, we looked at a Carlsbad hydrant repair against a $10,000 replacement quote.

City pages: fire protection in San Diego, Chula Vista fire protection and Escondido fire protection.