A man wearing a black cap, red hoodie, reflective safety vest, tan pants, and brown shoes walks on a gray concrete floor inside a large industrial warehouse with white walls, holding a clipboard and a pen.

ABOUT Piper fire protection

BUILT HERE.
ROOTED HERE.
PROTECTING THIS COMMUNITY SINCE 1986.

We didn't grow into West Central Florida. We grew up in it.

What began as one person has grown into one of the largest fire protection companies in the region — more than 200 full-time technicians, engineers, and support professionals operating from offices in Clearwater, Sarasota, and Orlando.

We've designed, installed, inspected, and maintained fire and life safety systems across Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota, Bradenton, Orlando, and the surrounding communities for four decades.

We know this market.
We know the AHJs.
We know the codes — and we stay ahead of them.

Close-up view of a red fire sprinkler head with a metal deflector and an orange glass bulb inside, set against a dark background with blurred red and blue pipes.

ABOUT Piper FIRE protection

In 1986, Piper Fire Protection started as a one-man operation with a single, straightforward purpose: to protect the people and facilities of West Central Florida better than anyone else.

That purpose hasn't changed. Nearly everything else has.

The people are the same. The commitment is the same. The capability is greater.

Your Life Safety, Our Life Mission.^®

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Here for our community.

For years, we have hosted public education classes to help facility managers, property owners, and building operators understand their life safety systems and compliance obligations. Because an informed client is a protected client.

Experience shows up in the field.

Our management team averages 20 years of experience — and they work in the field, not just behind a desk. Our technicians attend continuing education regularly, staying current on the latest NFPA, UL, and OSHA requirements. We don't just follow fire codes; we help shape them. Piper is active in state safety initiatives and public policy development — which means when codes change in Florida, we're rarely surprised.

Local roots. ‍National resources.

In 2023, Piper Fire Protection joined the Fortis Fire & Safety family — a national network of regionally embedded fire and life safety companies united by shared standards, training, and purpose. For our customers, this means one thing: you get the team you've always known, backed by the resources of a premier national organization.

Affiliations & Certifications

we do good work.

Piper's credentials are built from four decades of active participation in the fire and life safety industry — not collected for a wall of logos, but earned through genuine investment in our people, our craft, and our community.

Our technicians hold NICET-level certifications and attend continuing education regularly, staying current on the latest NFPA standards, UL requirements, and OSHA obligations as they evolve in Florida's specific regulatory environment.

Our management team actively participates in the American Fire Sprinkler Association at both the Florida chapter and national board levels — shaping the codes and standards that govern our industry, not just following them.

We proudly comply with all Florida Fire Prevention code and NFPA standards. After serving Florida's west coast for 40 years, it allows our team to be knowledgeable with the locally enforced requirements in the communities where we live, work and serve.

We are active members of the NFPA, AFSA, ABC Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, FFEDA, and ISNetworld — and we maintain authorized partnerships with leading manufacturers including Ansul, Honeywell/Farenhyt, Amerex, and Pyro-Chem. These relationships give our technicians direct access to manufacturer training, technical support, and parts availability that translate directly into better service for every facility we protect.

Stylized graphic of a red maple leaf with black outlines forming the letters 'NFPs'.

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piper FIRE protection LEADERSHIP TEAM

meet the team

Experienced. Knowledgeable. Here to serve you.

Smiling bald man with glasses and goatee wearing a blue Piper Fire Protection jacket over a blue and white checkered shirt against a neutral gray background.

Chris Johnson

Co-Founder and President

Industry professional since 1993

Don O'Lone

VP of Finance

Industry professional since 1995

paul belbin

Clearwater Operations Manager

Industry professional since 2012

Smiling middle-aged man with light beard and mustache, wearing a white dress shirt and dark blazer against a neutral gray background.

mike corbett

Sarasota Branch Manager

Industry professional since 1986

SERVICE AREA

Fire & Life Safety Coverage

Piper Fire Protection's service area now spans 17 counties across Central and Southwest Florida — including Orlando and the surrounding region — backed by the resources and standards of the Fortis Fire & Safety national network.

With offices in Tampa, Clearwater, Sarasota, and Orlando, our technicians are genuinely local — not regional approximations. Every emergency call is answered by someone who knows the roads, knows the codes, and knows what it means to protect this community.

‍Part of the Fortis Fire & Safety national network — local expertise, backed by national strength.

For national account inquiries, contact our National Accounts team.

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Counties served: Marion, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, DeSoto, Hardee, Polk, Osceola, Orange, Lake, and Sumter.

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Map highlighting 16 counties in west-central Florida in blue, including Marion, Citrus, Sumter, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Hardee, Desoto, Charlotte, and Lee counties.

System down?
Every Minute Counts.

Piper emergency technicians are standing by— right now, right here — ready to respond.

(800) 327-7604

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Fortis Family of Brands

Local expertise, national strength

The best of both — in every market we serve.

Trust is built locally. It lives in the technician who knows your building, knows your local codes, and shows up when something goes wrong at midnight. It lives in the relationship between a fire protection company and the community it has served for decades. 

But capability is built at scale. The training standards, the technical resources, the purchasing power, the shared knowledge of a unified national organization — these are the things that make a local provider exceptional rather than merely adequate.

Fortis was built on this belief.

Our network of regionally rooted fire and life safety companies delivers genuine local expertise in every market we serve — technicians who know the regional AHJs, the local codes, and the specific demands of the facilities in their community. Behind each of them stands the full weight of a premier national organization.

You build. You create. You push the world forward.
‍We protect it all.