Page 13 - UFRA Straight Tip Spring 2021 - Volume 22 Issue 2

Appliances should not be taken apart to reveal interior damage and de- struction except by trained and authorized personnel.
To maintain the scene for investigation, firefighters should only shut off the main breaker to disconnect electrical service from the building and leave all individual circuit breakers as found rather than shutting each one off. This allows the investigators to determine which circuits were faulted during the fire.
Subrogation
One of a fire chief ’s post-fire responsibilities includes the protection and preservation of evidence. Criminal and civil suits are often a result of fires, and the fire chief needs to ensure evidence and investigation results are available to litigants for the purposes of subrogation—when an insurance company litigates against a contractor or an equipment or de- vice manufacturer. For example, if the cause of the fire was determined to be a coffee maker, the insurance company will pay to repair the dam- age to the home and then will, in turn, litigate against the coffee maker manufacturer to recover costs. To fulfill his or her responsibility, the fire chief must ensure that the device or appliance is not destroyed. The chief should instruct the homeowner to save the device so that it can be exam- ined by both the insurance company and the manufacturer’s representa- tives. Often, fire investigators will tag or identify equipment indicating that it must be preserved. This way, restoration companies or contractors will not throw it out as they begin restoration of the structure.
Evidence retention tags are often used by fire investigators to identify equipment that must be preserved.
Resources Available
Investigation resources are available to all fire departments through the Utah State Fire Marshal’s Office and other fire departments. Fire inves- tigator classes are offered by the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy and from the National Fire Academy. Wildland fire investigators are available through Forestry, Fire & State Lands or can be dispatched through the Interagency Fire Dispatch Center in your area. Legal advice can be obtained through your city or agency’s attorney.
Rod Hammer PhD, EFO, has been the Cache County fire chief for 12 years. He served as a volunteer firefighter for nine years and works regularly with volunteer fire departments. He is a member of the UFRA Certification Council and teaches multiple classes for UFRA.
An untouched circuit panel allows the investigator to see which circuits were tripped from the fire.
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