Fire Marshal Staff

Jimmy N. Ashburn
Fire Marshal
336-783-9045
Jimmy has been involved in the fire service in Surry County for over 30 years.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia Southern University.  He has numerous North Carolina certifications such as Fire Officer Level III, Fire Prevention Inspector Level III, Fire and Rescue Instructor Level III, NC Certified Fire Investigator, and NAFI Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator/Instructor.  He also holds an Emergency Management Associate Level Certificate.  He has been serving the Surry County Fire Marshal’s office since 2013.

Benji Faw
Fire Inspector III
336-783-9042
Benji has been involved in the fire service in and out of Surry County for over 20 years.  He holds numerous North Carolina certifications including Fire Officer II, Fire Prevention Level III, Fire Investigation Technician and Fire and Rescue Instructor.  He has been serving the Surry County Fire Marshal's office since June 2022.

Rodney Whitaker
Fire Inspector I
336-783-9041
Rodney has been involved in the fire service for over 40 years. He holds numerous North Carolina certifications including Fire Instructor II, Fire & Life Safety Educator III, Fire Officer I, and currently working on obtaining his NC Fire Investigation Technician. He has been serving the Surry County Fire Marshal’s office since 2023.

David Jones
Fire Inspector III
336-783-1771
David has been involved in the fire service for over 30 years. He hold as associate in Criminal Justice from Surry Community College, He also has numerous North Carolina Certifications such as Fire Investigator, Fire Instructor Level III, Fire Officer II, Fire & Life Safety Educator Level III, He has been serving the Surry County Fire Marshal’s office since 2017

Zachary Edwards
Probation Level I
Zachary is working on obtaining his associate Emergency Management at Forsyth Community college, He also has numerous North Carolina Certifications such as Probationary Fire Prevention Inspector I, Firefighter II, and he is currently working on obtaining his NC Fire Investigation Technician. He has been serving the Surry County Fire Marshal’s office since 2023.