Wareham police detective, fire lieutenant complete state’s fire investigation course

Dec 30, 2018

Wareham Fire Dept. Lt. Christopher Smith and Wareham Police Detective Dean Decas recently completed the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s six-day “Basic Fire Investigation” course in November.

State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Director David C. Evans announced that both are among 87 public safety officers to complete the course.

The training provides fire, and state and local police officers with the technical skills to accurately determine the origin and cause of fires in their jurisdictions and together, build solid, prosecutable cases.

“The team concept of fire investigation has been used successfully in Massachusetts for over 20 years and it starts with joint training,” said Ostroskey. “When police and fire are trained in the same techniques and procedures together, the consistency leads to accurate origin and cause determinations, and when arson is the cause, solid criminal cases.”

The course covers the concepts of witness interviewing, fire behavior, scene examination, fire scene documentation, and evidence collection. Students must pass a written exam. The program covers unintentional fires, intentionally set fires, automobile fires, fatal fires and wild land fires.

The 87 graduates included 72 firefighters, 11 local police officers, three Massachusetts State Police officers, and one state fire code enforcement official.