A fire safety inspector who covers Southern Maryland has been named the first recipient of a new statewide award recognizing the civilian staff of Maryland’s Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Shirley Millette, who works out of the agency’s Southern Regional Office, received the inaugural Civilian of the Year Award from Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray during the Maryland State Firefighters Association’s annual convention in Ocean City on June 22. The award, established in 2025, recognizes contributions from the agency’s fire safety inspectors, fire protection engineers, administrative staff and other civilian employees, distinct from the sworn deputy state fire marshals who conduct fire and arson investigations.
“Our civilian employees are essential to everything we accomplish as an agency, and Shirley exemplifies the professionalism, dedication, and selfless service they provide every day,” Mowbray said in announcing the award. “Whether she’s conducting inspections, assisting the public, or stepping in to support her coworkers, Shirley consistently goes above and beyond.”
Millette was chosen from five nominees representing the agency’s regional offices and Pikesville headquarters. Mowbray, who has led the roughly 75-employee agency as acting fire marshal since being appointed by Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland L. Butler in December 2023, said all five nominees reflected the kind of behind-the-scenes work that keeps the office running.
Millette joined the Office of the State Fire Marshal in September 2017 after a 30-year career in federal fire service, rising from firefighter to captain with the Naval District Washington Fire Department. Before that, she served four years in the U.S. Navy. As one of the first women to advance through the ranks at Naval District Washington’s fire department, she is credited with helping open a path for women who followed her into the federal fire service.
Since joining the state agency, Millette has become one of its most productive inspectors. She completed nearly 1,400 fire and life safety inspections in 2025, the highest total of any employee statewide, and has topped 1,000 inspections annually for each of the past five years — work that involves checking Southern Maryland businesses and buildings for compliance with Maryland’s Fire Prevention Code. When the Southern Regional Office faced staffing shortages in 2025, Millette also took on administrative duties beyond her inspection caseload, including processing paperwork, managing fee submissions, entering inspection requests into the agency’s records system and fielding phone calls and emails to keep the office functioning.
The Southern Regional Office, based at the Louis L. Goldstein Multi-Service Center in Prince Frederick, is one of five regional offices — alongside Western, Northeast, Upper Eastern and Lower Eastern — through which the statewide agency covers fire code enforcement, plan review, arson investigation and public education across Maryland’s 23 counties. The Office of the State Fire Marshal, a division of the Maryland State Police, traces its roots to 1894, making it the oldest state fire marshal’s office in the country and the second-oldest state law enforcement agency in Maryland. The agency employs roughly 75 people, including about 45 sworn deputy state fire marshals alongside its civilian fire protection engineers, fire safety inspectors, administrative specialists and public affairs staff.
Mowbray has served as acting fire marshal since Col. Butler appointed him following the retirement of former State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci, who stepped down at the end of 2023 after more than five decades in the fire service, including a decade leading the agency. The office continues to search for a permanent successor, a process that requires the state fire prevention commission to submit a list of three candidates to the secretary of the Maryland State Police for final appointment.
Outside her state job, Millette works as a licensed paramedic, volunteering across Calvert County and neighboring jurisdictions, and serves as a certified CPR instructor teaching lifesaving skills to both emergency responders and members of the public. She lives with her husband, Wayne, and has children and four grandchildren; she also enjoys traveling, camping and riding motorcycles in her free time.
Mowbray said the new award is meant to formally recognize a category of employees whose work often goes unseen. “While much of their work happens behind the scenes, their contributions are vital to protecting the citizens of Maryland every day,” he said.
