Studdsville Fire Department, Studdsville Police Department and Mercury County Sheriffs Department have joined forces to have a joint Arson division to maximise information sharing and serve warrants in cases where arson is suspected, persons got (fatally) injured, large Dollar loss, high profile incidents, potential life and/or property loss and counter terrorism.
For this purpose a joint operations task force was created within SVFD under supervision of the Fire Marshall and assisted by the lead arson investigators from SVPD and MCSD. A team of expierenced and highly trained arson investigators will investigate fires and fire related incidents to determine the best course of action: Fire Prevention education or prosecution. |
Prevention
The goal of fire prevention is to educate the public to take precautions to prevent potentially harmful fires, and be educated about surviving them. It is a proactive method of reducing emergencies and the damage caused by them.
Our office is always willing to teach and will have public speeches at the local schools and community programs. Next to education programs the Arson Division also conducts Fire Safety Checks on public buildings, businesses and other places and structures where a lot of people can be at times, these can also be requested by calling our office. |
Investigation
In common with many forensic disciplines, one of the early tasks of fire investigation is often to determine whether or not a crime has been committed. The difficulty of determining whether arson has occurred arises because fire often destroys the key evidence of its origin. Many fires are caused by defective equipment, such as shorting of faulty electrical circuits. Car fires can be caused by faulty fuel lines, and spontaneous combustion is possible where organic wastes are stored.
A fire investigator looks at the fire remains, and obtains information to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the fire. One of the challenging aspects of fire investigation is the multi-disciplinary basis of the investigator's job. As fires can be caused by or involve many ignition sources and fuels, fire investigators need to know not only the science of fire behavior, but also to have a working understanding of many different areas of study including construction, electricity, human behavior, and mechanical devices. For example, if there is a gas appliance at the origin of the fire, an investigator should know enough about appliances to either include or exclude it as a possible cause of the fire. Fire investigators sometimes work with forensic engineers, such as forensic electrical engineers when examining electrical appliances, household wiring, etc. Copies of released investigation reports can be obtained via our office, contact us to make an appointment. |
Justice
When an investigation is completed, and evidence proves that laws are broken, the Arson Division will hand over the case to the District Attourney and people will have to take resposibility in front of a Judge.
This is why all our arson Division members are certified law enforcement officers. And they are licenced to carry and use a firearm when needed, serve warrants and arrest and detain suspects. To maximise this special ability and to minimise the risk of law breakers and/or terrorists escaping, the Arson Division closely works together with the other divisions in our own Departments, but also the MCSD SWAT Division, SVPD Air Division, FBI, Homeland Security and the Department of Defence. |