BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office was recently awarded the National Association of State Fire Marshals 2018 President's Award.

State Fire Marshal Butch Browning and staff members accepted the award last month at the NSFM's Annual Conference in Utah. A ceremony was held Friday morning in Baton Rouge.

According to a release, the award recognizes outstanding efforts in leadership each year.

The department was recognized for its Information Management System, which has revolutionized the way the office does business in-house and with the public, the release states. The online portal has allowed operations including plan review, investigations, and inspections to become virtually paperless.

“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the staff, but also Governor John Bel Edwards and the great state of Louisiana,” said Browning when accepting the award. “This is all about the personnel bringing about efficiencies. We are an example in our state of how technology can make us operate like private business and there’s more to come.”