Working for the Dark Side - The Private Industry Fire Investigator vs. the Fire Marshal/Official

By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator

Private Industry Fire Investigators, which I am considered, are often thought to be working for the Dark side as some Fire Marshals put it in there private conversations inside their own worlds. But working for an insurance company, an investigation or engineering agency, or freelance has nothing to do with anything Dark at all. Fire Marshals use the term dark side because often the results we come up with after a fire are completely different than their’s, which often times ends up in court with egg on the face of the fire marshal when they have incorrectly determined the cause of the fire.

There are many factors back and forth for this uneasy alliance some but not all professionals have. A fire marshal's main focus is on cause and origin based on their best knowledge and training which is often times very inadequate next to a private industry expert. So mistakes are always possible. This also goes the opposite way too, because sometimes the Fire Marshal has a very extensive amount of training and expertise and the private industry expert has the egg on their face. All investigators are suppose to use the Scientific method of collecting and examining evidence and most follow the NFPA 921 codes for fire and explosion investigation. But mistakes happen and this is why there are often times many different reviews of a case. Especially where product liability and injury or death is an issue. Even private industry experts will disagree with each other’s testimony. As well as some private experts considered to be hired guns deliberately brought in to blow up a case.

Take my expertise of electricity which is far and above the average fire marshal, yet they have far and above me expertise as to burn patterns and fire characteristics as they are doing it in the field much more often than I do. Where both private and local, county and state fire marshals work together using there combined skills with the private experts, more correct rulings and answers are forth coming and this helps to prevent unwarranted Arson or other charges being brought against individuals when in fact the fire was accidental. It also helps that statistics from fires are properly reported to help improve codes and products. It also helps to make sure arsonists and arson fires are correctly identified and prosecuted. I have worked with several fire marshals’ lending my expertise to them and in return I have learned from them as well. But this is not always the case. You have fire marshals who will not work with private fire investigators and feel they are the absolute experts at everything and there is not a need for private experts and this feeling goes both ways.

There is even disagreements on certifications and schooling. The CFI or Certified Fire Investigator which I am working towards offered by the Pa. Assoc. of Arson investigators, which has both private and government agency investigators as members, is considered the hardest of certifications to get because of its many hours of training and field work. Plus the only certification many insurance companiess will accept as to who they will accept to sign off on the case. Yet there are many other certifications and courses available as well each with its own level of expertise through both private companiess and the state. But when you have fire marshals and private experts who will not work together and cooperate they are hurting all of us. It also goes for the fire service when extinguishing fires and in the process allows deliberate destruction of evidence when in fact it could have been avoided. Many a fire department has blown an arson case by its actions taken during a fire as well as private industry and fire marshals allowing for spoilage of evidence. Until we are all on the same page major mistakes and screw-ups will continue. And the ones getting hurt are the victims and our own selves.

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