Jarron Gass

Jarron Gass, PE, CFPS

Discipline Leader — Fire Protection Engineering

Jarron Gass is a life and fire safety expert with more than two decades of experience designing, implementing and troubleshooting fire protection systems. He effectively manages multiple high-priority projects and analyzes his customer’s needs, evaluating fire and life safety code requirements to promote compliance and improved safety. Jarron is a licensed fire protection engineer in 12 states and a Certified Fire Protection Specialist through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Prior to joining CDM Smith, he worked on many high-piled storage facilities as well as several high-end luxury car dealership projects around the United States, implementing fire protection criteria for new and renovated facilities.

year at CDM Smith

years in industry

completed projects

100+

completed projects

Why CDM Smith? Joining the firm provided me a chance to not only work on the types of projects I am interested in, but also to be part of the team developing and growing the fire protection discipline as well as the overall offerings from CDM Smith.

What inspires you? At work, I have a passion for making our built environment safer. It sounds cheesy, but I was born into this industry. My dad worked in fire protection and introduced me to fire protection at a young age. I grew up wanting to be in fire protection because he was in fire protection, and he taught me a lot and was a crucial mentor for me, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.

What do you find most rewarding about your job? It’s always nice to have an opportunity to validate the work that we do. There have been facilities I’ve worked with where there was an unfortunate fire, but the sprinkler system worked and either contained or put out the fire. It’s rewarding to know that not only did we save the structure, but no one was harmed.

What are your three non-work passions? I am a big sports fan (especially ice hockey!), long weekend trips to the beach with my wife and learning new home improvement skills for the many at-home projects I’ve started since quarantining.

Why CDM Smith? It’s a company where you can work on interesting, challenging, high-profile projects that have a positive impact on clients and communities. CDM Smith is filled with great people who phave a lot to offer and the depth of resources makes it all the more fun to tackle big, complex challenges.

What’s your favorite part of your job? Seeing our teams do excellent work that results in clients coming back to us for help with their next challenge. I love witnessing that positive reinforcement and synergy build with each assignment.

What’s something you enjoy doing on your day off? Going on a hard bike ride with friends in the morning and then puttering around the yard for the rest of the day. I’d cap it off with a great dinner or evening on the beach.

What’s something that people might be surprised to know about you? I was once an avid competitive sailor and competed in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials.