Liberty County fire marshal discusses rebuilding trust, improving services, keeping residents safe

When Nathan Green accepted the job as Liberty County fire marshal in January 2025, he knew he wasn’t stepping into an ordinary position.

The office was emerging from one of the most turbulent periods in its history. The former fire marshal and two assistants were arrested and charged with crimes. Public confidence had been shaken, the department was rebuilding from the ground up, and Green would spend much of his first year wearing multiple hats while laying the foundation for a fresh start.

For Green, however, challenges have never been a reason to back away.

“I’ve always told myself that one day I wanted to be a county fire marshal,” he said during a recent appearance on the Headlines and Heartlines podcast. “When this opportunity came up, I threw my name in the hat. I really didn’t expect a whole lot, but I wanted to see where I stood.”

Today, Green oversees far more than fire investigations in Liberty County, Texas. His office touches nearly every aspect of public safety, from commercial building inspections and fire code enforcement to emergency communications, volunteer fire department coordination, disaster response and even oversight of the county’s ambulance contract.

Green’s path into public safety began nearly 40 years ago after leaving the U.S. Air Force. Growing up in Houston’s Spring Branch neighborhood, he was like many boys of his generation.

“Every little boy growing up in my age group always wanted to ride the big red truck or played cops and robbers,” he said.

After moving to the Cy-Fair area in the mid-1980s, Green volunteered with the Cy-Fair Fire Department while simultaneously pursuing a career in law enforcement. He graduated from the Harris County Sheriff’s Academy, worked in the county jail and eventually became a deputy.

One of his earliest assignments allowed him to create a work program using low-risk weekend inmates to clean parks, cemeteries and public spaces throughout Houston.

“We’d fill 200 trash bags in a weekend,” Green recalled. “It was beautification. It saved taxpayers money, and it was something worthwhile.”

His unique background as both a firefighter and deputy sheriff eventually caught the attention of the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office following a fatal industrial fire.

“They found out I was a deputy and a firefighter,” Green said. “The next thing I knew, I was sitting down talking with them.”

That conversation led to a 27-year career with Harris County before Green retired in 2014. Retirement, however, didn’t last long.

He accepted a position as assistant fire marshal for the University of Houston, overseeing fire and life safety at campuses in Sugar Land, Katy and Victoria. Later, he became fire marshal for the City of Shenandoah before accepting the opportunity to come to Liberty County.

Rebuilding an office

When Green arrived in Liberty County, he essentially was a one-man department.

For nearly 10 months, much of the workload rested on his shoulders until additional staff could be hired.

Today, the office includes a fire inspector, an investigator and an office coordinator, allowing Green to focus on long-term improvements instead of simply reacting to daily emergencies.

Among the first changes he implemented was better organization.

Inspection records, permits and fire code reviews are now documented in a centralized digital system, making it easier for property owners, county staff and those requesting public records to locate information.

Instead of waiting until construction is complete, Green’s office now performs inspections throughout the building process.

“We’re not just showing up at the end,” he said. “If we see something that’s going to be a problem later, we’d rather point it out early than make someone tear something apart after it’s finished.”

Green said he also wants businesses and residents to see the Fire Marshal’s Office as a resource rather than something to fear.

“When I first got here, there was a lot of mistrust,” he said. “Once people realized I wasn’t here to do anything other than help, word started spreading.”

More than investigating fires

Ask most people what a fire marshal does, and they’ll likely answer, “Investigate fires.” That’s only part of the job.

In addition to overseeing commercial fire inspections, fire code enforcement, permitting reviews, hazardous occupancy inspections, emergency planning and serving as the county liaison to Liberty County’s volunteer fire departments, Green also has been tasked with overseeing Liberty County’s emergency ambulance contract and managing the county’s public safety radio system.

One of his biggest accomplishments has been reorganizing the county’s emergency communications equipment.

When he began reviewing the system, records indicated more than 1,400 radios were assigned throughout Liberty County. Many no longer existed. Others had reached the end of their useful life but remained listed as active.

Working with local agencies, Green helped identify active equipment, removing roughly 800 obsolete radios from the system. Today, he knows where every county-issued radio is assigned and who is responsible for it.

Those improvements provide greater accountability while helping ensure first responders have reliable communications when emergencies occur.

Improving ambulance service

Another challenge on Green’s desk has been emergency medical services. Liberty County’s rapid growth has placed increasing pressure on ambulance resources, and response times have become a concern for many residents. Green has been overseeing the county’s EMS contract and is currently working with the provider to improve service.

One potential solution for the frequent lengthy response time could come through a federal rural healthcare grant that would provide specialized response vehicles staffed by paramedics.

Rather than sending a full-size ambulance to every medical call, these units could respond to lower-acuity situations, provide on-scene medical evaluations, connect patients with physicians through telemedicine and determine whether ambulance transport is truly necessary.

Nearly one-third of ambulance responses currently end without a patient being transported to a hospital.

“If we can take some of those calls that don’t necessarily need a 911 ambulance and still provide the help they need, that frees ambulances to respond to true emergencies,” Green explained.

The grant, if awarded, could provide funding for up to five years.

Green promotes fire safety

Despite overseeing complex emergency systems, Green says some of the most important things residents can do are surprisingly simple.

The most common cause of residential fires he sees isn’t arson. It’s bad electrical work. Improper wiring, overloaded circuits and extension cords being used as permanent wiring continue to create dangerous situations inside homes.

“Extension cords are not meant to be permanent wiring,” he said. “They’re not designed for that.”

If he could encourage every homeowner to do just two things, Green’s answer comes quickly. Install working smoke detectors and make sure your address is clearly visible from the road.

“I’d rather you get out and cry on my shoulder because you lost everything than have to recover your body,” he said.

Visible address numbers are equally important. Emergency responders often lose valuable time trying to locate homes that have no address displayed.

“Put your numbers on your mailbox, fence post or wherever they can be seen,” Green said. “If the ambulance can’t find you, that’s time you may not have.”

Looking ahead

After nearly four decades in public safety, Green says one lesson continues to guide him.

“When you do a job you love, you never work a day in your life.”

He still believes every organization has room for improvement—including his own.

“If I ever get to the point where I think nothing needs to change, then I have a problem,” he said. “That means I’ve become complacent.”

To hear the full interview with Green on the Bluebonnet News Headlines and Heartlines podcast, click the link below: