The City of Erie Fire Department's Fire Prevention Division will have a new position soon - Fire Marshall. 

The new position will replace the Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, and Fire Prevention positions, consolidating the three separate jobs into one jobs, with the former inspector, investigator, and prevention officers becoming Fire Marshalls. 

The change comes after a Wednesday morning motion by the Erie City Council, and aims to prevent any legal issues. 

"Part of it is legality for when we go to court," said Donald Sauer, who currently operates as Chief Fire Inspector for Erie, and will soon become a Fire Marshall.

"When I sign our fire report, right now I'm signing it with my name and Chief Fire Inspector, because that's the title the city gave me. But a lawyer could essentially ask me 'this says fire inspector, why did you do a fire investigation?' Well, when I put Fire Marshall, that entails both jobs, so it won't be a problem legally, if we have to go to court for a fire."

The name change will also allow the Fire Marshalls to enforce and penalize businesses that don't adhere to the International Fire Code, which is what the City of Erie follows.

Sauer says the change comes at no expense to the taxpayers.