My First Year as County Fire Marshal: Progress, Partnerships, and the Path Forward

Please join us on October 27, 2026 at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille to hear from Matt Bixler to learn about his experiences in his first year as Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal! Lunch will be served at roughly 11:45am and the presentation will start at 1pm.

Key Topics:

• Lessons learned from his first year,
• His office's biggest challenges, 
• The biggest fire hazards of today and looking ahead, and
• What makes a good fire protection engineer?

Presenter: Matt Bixler, County Fire Marshal - Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal's Office

Matt Bixler, an experienced fire investigator and public safety leader, has been named Mecklenburg County's fire marshal, effective October 6, 2025. With over 20 years in fire service, law enforcement, and emergency services, he brings a wide breadth of expertise in fire, arson, and explosion investigations. Matt served as Deputy Fire Marshal with FMO since 2018. Previously, he served as a Deputy Sheriff with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, as well as a firefighter in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom and at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Fire Department.

Matt holds a B.S. in Fire, Arson, and Explosion Investigation from Eastern Kentucky University and is pursuing an M.S. in Fire Executive Leadership in Public Administration. He is a certified fire investigator, certified fire and explosives investigator, and an active member of several professional fire service organizations. He also serves on the executive board of the Mecklenburg County Firefighter's Burned Children Fund and serves as an Associate Member with Cornelius Fire Rescue.