Firefighter Learns Investigative Skills

Firefighter Learns Investigative Skills

+ click to enlarge News staff photo by Tara Vocino Firefighter Rebecca Hicks sits on the front of the fire truck. She is the only firefighter on the department to graduate from the advanced fire investigation course. Tara Vocino Reporter TEMPLETON –– Rebecca L. Hicks is the only firefighter from the Templeton department to complete the six-day advanced fire investigation course at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy. According to State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan, the rigorous professional training provides fire, state and local police officers with the advanced skills to accurately determine the origin and cause of fires, and build solid, prosecutable cases. Ms. Hicks is the only firefighter in the North Central region to complete the course. Most graduates are from the North Shore with Worcester being the closest department. Ms. Hicks said she completed the course by participating in mock trials and investigating the origin of staged fires in several 8- by-10-foot rooms. The course covers unintentional, intentionally set and fatal fires. “Each room has a different scenario,” Ms. Hicks said. “I had to come up with a full report, take photos, submit them to the crime lab, and try to find the point of origin as well as the cause.” She determined the causes of her two mock fires as: arson with a murder and a drug lab. Ms. Hicks did that by interviewing witnesses, investigating any inconsistencies and piecing the stories together to come up with conclusions. Ms. Hicks compared the course to the board game, Clue. Mr. Coan said she has to interview witnesses quickly while their memories are fresh or before those displaced by the fire become hard to locate. Ms. Hicks said she hasn’t had to use the training in her seven years on the department but works closely with Police Sgt. Derek Hall, who has. Most of the fires she’s been to have been accidental in nature, or not yet determined. And while some fires were considered suspicious, she didn’t have enough proof that they were intentionally set. Ms. Hicks called it an honor to be in this profession, one she entered because she wants to help people. There’s different directions that firefighters can go, but she chose this investigative route. “It’s like a big puzzle,” she said. “It’s all shaken up. Someone dropped it, and I have to put all the pieces together to figure it out.” Deputy Chief David Dickie said that Ms. Hicks also went through the basic course and basic fire investigation course prior to this latest course – in excess of 100 training hours. “She often works on-call and isn’t paid all of the time,” Mr. Dickie said. “She takes time off from her day job. That’s a tremendous commitment. I can’t speak enough about her dedication.” Mr. Dickie said people depend upon her job to determine a fires’ cause swiftly and correctly. Mr. Coan said investigation isn’t easy. “It’s a challenge to determine the cause of the fire when so much of the needed evidence is destroyed by the fire itself,” Mr. Coan said. “But fires can also create evidence, which assist investigators.” Mr. Coan said the area where the fire has been burning the longest is often where the fire began.