Firemen learn investigative techniques
Whenever we report a fire on this newscast, one of the first questions our reporters ask is “how did it start?” While sometimes the answer is obvious, often it is not. This week Belizean fire-fighters are getting some help to improve the odds on giving a correct answer.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
They are responsible for fighting fires, but once the flames have been extinguished, fire-fighters must begin the work of determining what started the blaze. The job has not always been easy, as believe it or not, there are no trained fire investigators on staff at the National Fire Department. Today, eighteen of those fire-fighters are receiving the training necessary for them to properly conduct an investigation.
Ted Smith, Operations Manager, National Fire Dept.
“We can determined in some cases, the area of origin. But we find it very difficult to determine what causes the fire. We look forward to gain tremendous knowledge in this course, much more about determining the area of origin, but even more so to be able to establish what causes the fire.”
Karl Mercer, Instructor, Training Workshop
“It’s an in-depth course that deals with reading fire patterns, some collection of evidence, analysis of the evidence, some scientific analysis, and a lot of problem solving. And based on the fire-fighter’s training experience, will better enhance make them able to go ahead and make a cause determination there on the scene.”
Karl Mercer is just one of the five instructors from the Fire Marshall Academy in Virginia that were invited to conduct the workshop. The course focuses on deliberate situations like arson.
Karl Mercer
“What we are working on at is some of the tings where people actively deceive the fire investigator, by use of means that move the fire around and trying to deceive the fire-fighter on the scene to make it look like one thing when it’s actually another. We’re training them to enhance their abilities to discern these. the other thing is with the different building materials and that sort of thing, the fire spreads can sometimes be irregular. We’re working on both accidental and arson fires, just to give them the information they need to work out these patterns and see what’s going on.”
Next week the participants will be taken out in the field where the instructors will set up some practical problems. The students will be tested and hopefully when the course comes to a close at the end at the month, they will be certified fire investigators. Reporting for News 5, Jacqueline Woods.
Representatives from the police and Insurance companies are also taking part. The training programme, which was established by the U.S. National Fire Prevention Association, is one required of fire investigators in the United States.
