gunsmith
member
all of you guys who only post links, this is the way you do it!
http://www.firefightingnews.com/article-US.cfm?articleID=24616
Fire Investigators Are Firefighters With Guns And Badges
January 20, 2007
California - Firefighter or police officer. Many people looking for an exciting career choose one or the other. Rick Moore and several others at local fire departments are doing both. They're fire cops the nickname for fire investigators.
They are firefighters with guns and badges -- people who, after years of knocking down fires and getting covered in soot, trade in their fire gear for a plainclothes job that's closer to that of a police detective. But instead of investigating robberies and homicides, they go after those who set fires in the name of anger, desperation or pleasure.
"I get the best of both worlds," says Moore, a fire investigator with the Fresno County Fire Department. "I get to be a firefighter and I get to be a cop."
Moore has been a fire investigator for 12 years. He carries a .40-caliber gun on his hip, handcuffs on his belt and knows how to fight a wildfire and write a search warrant.
Moore, a sworn police officer, went through a police academy program to have the same law enforcement power as a police officer or sheriff's deputy.
Fire investigator is a position, Moore says, that the general public knows very little about. People think of firefighters only as men with helmets and hoses who save babies from burning buildings, he said.
"They do not understand what we do," Moore says.
At fire scenes, people often don't believe Moore has the power to arrest or cite them.
"I've written people tickets and they've said, 'Well, you're a fireman. You can't give me a ticket.'"
Wrong.
That ignorance, Moore says, often gives him a leg up in doing interviews; people spill their guts without knowing who they're talking to.
"It is to our advantage many times," he says, "and it is an absolute total surprise to many, many people."
Sometimes, the element of surprise works against fire investigators. In August, Moore tried to pull over two arson suspects near a fire in the Coalinga area. From an earlier conversation, the suspects knew Moore was a firefighter but apparently didn't know he has police powers.
They refused to pull over for Moore's fire vehicle, sparking a three-mile chase. Once stopped, Moore held the men at gunpoint, ordering them out of their vehicle. They didn't listen to the commands, Moore said, until they heard other sirens on the way.
Don MacAlpine runs the Fresno Fire Department's fire investigation unit. He says he has nearly 700 hours of law enforcement training.
He began working with the unit in 1997 -- a decade after he joined the department.
"I just really needed more," he said. "I wanted more responsibility and challenge."
On his off days, MacAlpine practiced writing fire reports and shadowed investigators until he officially became one of them in 1999. Since then, he has made about 200 arrests.
"It's a whole different mentality. It's a whole different perspective," MacAlpine says of the job change.
Being an investigator, MacAlpine says, goes against the grain of many firefighters' personalities.
"As a general statement, we don't like to distrust anybody," MacAlpine says. "We don't like to have conflict."
Investigators, however, have to take an opposite stance and second-guess everything.
They also need to understand fire and its behavior, such as burn patterns, MacAlpine said: "Fire is living. It needs to breathe. It needs to eat."
A good investigator starts out as a good firefighter, he said.
Even for the best investigators, though, arrests do not come easy.
In 2006, MacAlpine's unit investigated 517 cases -- 251 of which were determined to be arson. In those cases, 37 arrests were made, he said.
In a murder or robbery, he said, suspects often leave a trail of evidence, such as fingerprints or shell casings. But evidence left behind by an arsonist usually goes up in flames, and anything left is damaged by water and other materials used to snuff blazes, MacAlpine said. "There goes a lot of your available trace evidence."
That's why most arson cases are based on circumstantial evidence, witness statements or, ideally, a confession from the suspect.
MacAlpine had one of those cases in 2001. In a nine-month period, 21 fires occurred in a two-square-mile area near Roosevelt High School. About a half-dozen were of neighborhood palm trees. As a result, the 15-week investigation became known as the "Palm Tree" case.
MacAlpine linked the fires to a group of teenage boys with ties to the Bulldogs gang. Through interviews with them, MacAlpine got confessions that led to six convictions.
"It's like working a walnut," MacAlpine said. "As soon as you get a crack, you keep going for it."
The motive in that case was, well, juvenile mischief. But people set fires for other reasons. They do it for revenge. They do it for money (insurance fraud). They do it to cover up a crime.
MacAlpine has seen it all. Jilted lovers setting fire to each other's homes or cars, he said. Business owners, drowning in debt, setting fire to their workplace to try to collect insurance money.
Other arsonists do it because they can't help themselves. They have an unusual attraction to fire.
"Usually there's an excitement about the fire itself," MacAlpine said. "It can be sexual. Some do it for self-glorification. Some do it for a sense of power."
Moore came across an arsonist like that about six years ago.
His name was James Haag, a middle-aged electrician who was renting a room from a family in southeast Fresno.
But Haag was not your average Joe. He was a transvestite going through a sex change who had a compulsion to set fires, Moore said.
Fresno County fire investigators conducted surveillance on Haag for two years, after he became the prime suspect in a series of Sierra wildfires that burned almost 5,000 acres. The undercover work paid off: They actually watched him start a fire, Moore said.
Haag was convicted in August 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
MacAlpine relishes the feeling of catching an arsonist.
"When it all comes together," MacAlpine said, "it's a feeling that I really can't describe."
Written by The Fresno Bee
Courtesy of © 2007, YellowBrix, Inc.
http://www.firefightingnews.com/article-US.cfm?articleID=24616
Fire Investigators Are Firefighters With Guns And Badges
January 20, 2007
California - Firefighter or police officer. Many people looking for an exciting career choose one or the other. Rick Moore and several others at local fire departments are doing both. They're fire cops the nickname for fire investigators.
They are firefighters with guns and badges -- people who, after years of knocking down fires and getting covered in soot, trade in their fire gear for a plainclothes job that's closer to that of a police detective. But instead of investigating robberies and homicides, they go after those who set fires in the name of anger, desperation or pleasure.
"I get the best of both worlds," says Moore, a fire investigator with the Fresno County Fire Department. "I get to be a firefighter and I get to be a cop."
Moore has been a fire investigator for 12 years. He carries a .40-caliber gun on his hip, handcuffs on his belt and knows how to fight a wildfire and write a search warrant.
Moore, a sworn police officer, went through a police academy program to have the same law enforcement power as a police officer or sheriff's deputy.
Fire investigator is a position, Moore says, that the general public knows very little about. People think of firefighters only as men with helmets and hoses who save babies from burning buildings, he said.
"They do not understand what we do," Moore says.
At fire scenes, people often don't believe Moore has the power to arrest or cite them.
"I've written people tickets and they've said, 'Well, you're a fireman. You can't give me a ticket.'"
Wrong.
That ignorance, Moore says, often gives him a leg up in doing interviews; people spill their guts without knowing who they're talking to.
"It is to our advantage many times," he says, "and it is an absolute total surprise to many, many people."
Sometimes, the element of surprise works against fire investigators. In August, Moore tried to pull over two arson suspects near a fire in the Coalinga area. From an earlier conversation, the suspects knew Moore was a firefighter but apparently didn't know he has police powers.
They refused to pull over for Moore's fire vehicle, sparking a three-mile chase. Once stopped, Moore held the men at gunpoint, ordering them out of their vehicle. They didn't listen to the commands, Moore said, until they heard other sirens on the way.
Don MacAlpine runs the Fresno Fire Department's fire investigation unit. He says he has nearly 700 hours of law enforcement training.
He began working with the unit in 1997 -- a decade after he joined the department.
"I just really needed more," he said. "I wanted more responsibility and challenge."
On his off days, MacAlpine practiced writing fire reports and shadowed investigators until he officially became one of them in 1999. Since then, he has made about 200 arrests.
"It's a whole different mentality. It's a whole different perspective," MacAlpine says of the job change.
Being an investigator, MacAlpine says, goes against the grain of many firefighters' personalities.
"As a general statement, we don't like to distrust anybody," MacAlpine says. "We don't like to have conflict."
Investigators, however, have to take an opposite stance and second-guess everything.
They also need to understand fire and its behavior, such as burn patterns, MacAlpine said: "Fire is living. It needs to breathe. It needs to eat."
A good investigator starts out as a good firefighter, he said.
Even for the best investigators, though, arrests do not come easy.
In 2006, MacAlpine's unit investigated 517 cases -- 251 of which were determined to be arson. In those cases, 37 arrests were made, he said.
In a murder or robbery, he said, suspects often leave a trail of evidence, such as fingerprints or shell casings. But evidence left behind by an arsonist usually goes up in flames, and anything left is damaged by water and other materials used to snuff blazes, MacAlpine said. "There goes a lot of your available trace evidence."
That's why most arson cases are based on circumstantial evidence, witness statements or, ideally, a confession from the suspect.
MacAlpine had one of those cases in 2001. In a nine-month period, 21 fires occurred in a two-square-mile area near Roosevelt High School. About a half-dozen were of neighborhood palm trees. As a result, the 15-week investigation became known as the "Palm Tree" case.
MacAlpine linked the fires to a group of teenage boys with ties to the Bulldogs gang. Through interviews with them, MacAlpine got confessions that led to six convictions.
"It's like working a walnut," MacAlpine said. "As soon as you get a crack, you keep going for it."
The motive in that case was, well, juvenile mischief. But people set fires for other reasons. They do it for revenge. They do it for money (insurance fraud). They do it to cover up a crime.
MacAlpine has seen it all. Jilted lovers setting fire to each other's homes or cars, he said. Business owners, drowning in debt, setting fire to their workplace to try to collect insurance money.
Other arsonists do it because they can't help themselves. They have an unusual attraction to fire.
"Usually there's an excitement about the fire itself," MacAlpine said. "It can be sexual. Some do it for self-glorification. Some do it for a sense of power."
Moore came across an arsonist like that about six years ago.
His name was James Haag, a middle-aged electrician who was renting a room from a family in southeast Fresno.
But Haag was not your average Joe. He was a transvestite going through a sex change who had a compulsion to set fires, Moore said.
Fresno County fire investigators conducted surveillance on Haag for two years, after he became the prime suspect in a series of Sierra wildfires that burned almost 5,000 acres. The undercover work paid off: They actually watched him start a fire, Moore said.
Haag was convicted in August 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
MacAlpine relishes the feeling of catching an arsonist.
"When it all comes together," MacAlpine said, "it's a feeling that I really can't describe."
Written by The Fresno Bee
Courtesy of © 2007, YellowBrix, Inc.
