Fires break out across the globe daily on a massive scale and whether it be a forest fire or a household fire teams are always on site as soon as possible to contain, extinguish and investigate the causes of, a fire. The teams involved liaise with one and other to ensure the preservation of life as well as evidence. A fire investigation is required to find the origin, cause and evolution of a fire. The investigation is done in order to find out who or what is responsible for the blaze; whether it be criminal, accidental or natural. Trained experts, called fire investigators, are brought in alongside the fire service in order to determine the who, what, where, why and how of a fire. In turn it is important that fire investigators liaise with the fire service, police and other agencies on the case sharing the information of what they find so that it can be at first determined whether or not prosecution is necessary and then go on to give reports as well as evidence across to the police from the scene to ensure a successful prosecution.The main teams at a fire scene are the Fire Services and Ambulance Services but this advisory guide will look at the roles of other agencies that a fire investigator will liaise with during a fire investigation.
These other teams and agencies include:
- Police Service
- Scenes of Crimes Officers
- Specialist Dog Units
- Forensic Scientist
- Pathologist
- Insurance Loss Advisors
- Gas Advisor
- Health and Safety Executives
As well as the major teams listed there are also critical members of staff involved that speed up the judicial process to ensure that the victims receive a payout so they can continue with their lives, fraudulent claims are dealt with and, arson offenders face justice for their offence swiftly.
