Caroll H. Spriggs II was sworn in Monday as Maryland’s state fire marshal in a ceremony at the Chesapeake Hearing Room in the Calvert County Administration Building in Prince Frederick — putting a 38-year Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department veteran in charge of the oldest state fire marshal’s office in the country.
Spriggs, 53, is the first African American to hold the position in the office’s 132-year history, which dates to the agency’s founding in 1894. Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Michael A. Jackson appointed Spriggs to a six-year term on Sept. 16, following a selection process that began in May, when the position was advertised, and ran through review by the State Fire Prevention Commission before candidates were forwarded to Jackson for a final decision.
Spriggs’ path to the job runs through decades of hands-on fire and explosives work. Before his appointment, he served as deputy fire chief for the Prince George’s County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department and, earlier, as deputy fire chief for the City of Annapolis. He also worked as a task force officer with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and in 2019 was elected to the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board, becoming its secretary the following year. Throughout that career, Spriggs maintained his roots at Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department in Calvert County, where he served for 38 years.
“I would like to thank Colonel Jackson for this tremendous opportunity,” Spriggs said. “I look forward to working with all of the partners of the MDSP to continue making Maryland safe.”
Jackson said Spriggs’ background made him the right fit for an office with a broad public-safety mandate.
“With a career rooted in service and extensive experience in fire investigation and explosives, Spriggs brings a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office,” Jackson said.
Spriggs succeeds Chief Deputy Jason Mowbray, who has led the agency as acting state fire marshal since December 2023, when he was appointed on an interim basis just before the retirement of former fire marshal Brian Geraci, who left the post on Jan. 1, 2024, after more than a decade in the role and over 50 years in the fire service. Jackson thanked Mowbray “for his leadership and his continued dedication to the citizens of Maryland” and said he would move to the agency’s senior management team following the transition.
The nearly two-year gap between Geraci’s departure and Spriggs’ permanent appointment coincided with a federal discrimination lawsuit brought by Derek Chapman, the office’s first Black deputy chief state fire marshal, who alleged racial discrimination within the department. A federal judge ruled in favor of the Maryland Department of State Police on summary judgment in 2024, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed that ruling in November 2025, upholding the department’s position. Neither the appointment announcement nor Jackson’s remarks referenced the case.
As state fire marshal, Spriggs will oversee 85 employees, including more than 42 deputy state fire marshals, across an agency responsible for statewide fire, arson and explosives investigations, enforcement of the State Fire Prevention Code, coordination of fire prevention efforts, and collection of fire incident data statewide.
The swearing-in ceremony can be viewed on the Calvert County YouTube page.
