Investigator training at Fort Riley helps local units

By Will Ravenstein, Fort Riley Public AffairsAugust 1, 2018

Firefighters from Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services participated in fire investigation training July 20.
Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services firefighter Alex Canfield extinguishes a fire July 20 in Camp Funston during a fire investigation class hosted by FRFES. Investigators were given scenarios and were to determine if the fire was an accident, mech... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Flames shot out from the interior of one vehicle and from under the hood of another vehicle July 20, as firefighters from Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services prepared to extinguish the fires.

The intentionally set fires were part of a fire investigation orientation hosted by assistant chief Rich Watson for units from Fort Riley and the surrounding Flint Hills Region.

Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command working on Fort Riley approached the Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services about their procedures for conducting fire investigations to get a better understanding, Watson said.

"They came to us wanting to know more about vehicle fires," he said. "They are not trained fire investigators, but they are trying to gain more subject knowledge -- how it works and how we can work together with them."

Watson reached out to his Flint Hills Regional partners in Geary County, Junction City and Manhattan along with the Kansas Fire Marshal's Office to see if they would be interested in the joint training using live burns. This would allow the investigators an opportunity to see a scene and walk through the scene in an attempt to determine the cause of the fire.

"The investigators and the agents from CID will go in and build their case on how they think, this is their hypothesis, on how this fire started," Watson said. "They will build their case and present their case to the commander of the group or class."

The vehicles were set on fire, allowed to burn and with the help from the state fire marshal personnel, five scenarios were built, three out of actual case files, to test the investigators.

"It's not only a great opportunity for us but also for our partners in the Flint Hills Region," said Ric Seward, chief, Fort Riley Fire and Emergency Services. "It allows us to work together, allows for better interoperability and work through the process and systems."

Seward said that he hopes the attendees take with them an understanding of the processes and systems to fire investigations.

"Investigations, whether it's a vehicle or a structure, is a very systematic approach," he said. "Things have to be done right from the get-go as far as the investigation determining the point of origin, cause of origin and evidence preservation and collection. Coming together as two units with a common goal and working through the system and process."

CID Special Agent in Charge Jason Huggins said that the training was important training as far as building relationships with other agencies.

"We always know every scene on an installation will have a multi-agency response to it," he said. "This helps us shake hands and meet people face-to-face; so you build those relationships. So, when I do go out to a scene and I see somebody from the department there, we've already built that relationship. They are going to know what to expect they are going to do and we are going to know what to expect we are going to do."

Huggins credits Watson for the level of detail that he used to develop this training.

"What they have set up here with the fire department is some of the best fire training I have gotten to participate in," he said. "Our agents do sometimes get to participate in post-blast training, some get to take part in ATF training. But, it's unique training and doesn't happen all the time. To think that they set up a training opportunity (like this) where the entire class gets to walk through is very eye opening."