Q&A
Fire investigation procedures and evidence collection
0:43:57
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163 sec
Chief Fire Marshal Flynn explains the types of evidence collected during fire investigations and the procedures involved. He details the various forms of evidence, from fire debris to video surveillance and sworn statements.
- Fire marshals collect fire debris, video surveillance, and take sworn statements
- Evidence is analyzed at the NYPD lab to determine the presence of accelerants
- Physical evidence can include items like gas cans or discarded clothing from suspects
- The department also investigates assaults on FDNY personnel as part of their security oversight
Joann Ariola
0:43:57
Alright.
0:43:58
Alright.
0:43:58
Thank you.
0:43:59
So now moving on to the investigation.
0:44:02
So what type of physical evidence is collected for examination as part of a fire investigation?
Daniel Flynn
0:44:08
We can conduct any type of investigation.
0:44:11
We are police officers within New York State.
0:44:14
So we conduct various we we collect various pieces of evidence.
0:44:19
Fire fire debris analysis.
0:44:22
We collect video surveillance systems.
0:44:26
That we take sworn statements from occupants and witnesses.
0:44:29
But at a fire scene, we generally collect evidence fire debris to submit for fire debris analysis at the NYPD lab, which we have a phenomenal relationship with the NYPD.
0:44:42
And they will analyze any evidence that we bring to them to determine if there's accelerants within that evidence, what we collect from the area that we believe to be origin of the fire.
Joann Ariola
0:44:54
Alright.
0:44:55
And did they use any any specific equipment at that point to to gain this with this evidence?
Daniel Flynn
0:45:02
I'm not sure to collect the evidence.
Joann Ariola
0:45:04
Yes.
Daniel Flynn
0:45:06
No no real specialized equipment.
0:45:08
We just collect we find the area that we believe to be affected by if it is an accelerant, and we would take a sample there.
0:45:18
It depends on the scenes.
0:45:19
Everything is different, drastically different.
0:45:22
So it depends on what we would be collecting.
0:45:24
Sometimes there's a gas can at the scene.
0:45:26
Obviously, that's evidence physical evidence that we need to collect, and we would send that out, take a sample of the liquid that would be in there.
0:45:34
Collect the can as evidence, but analyze the liquid that is within the can.
0:45:39
So every seed is different, but we don't collect evidence at every seed.
0:45:43
But when we do, we use the NYPD lab to collect it.
0:45:47
We've collected physical evidence from suspects that have been they may have dropped inflamed from the from the crime scene.
0:45:54
We submit that to the OCME's office for analysis.
0:45:59
And they can conduct a DNA testing on that.
0:46:02
We just recently had a member of EMS that was assaulted at the hospital.
0:46:06
We were able to conduct a video surveillance, and we're able to track that individual.
0:46:11
And we saw him discard article of clothing.
0:46:15
We collected that article of clothing, submitted it to the OCME's office.
0:46:19
We had a match, and we were able to make an arrest on that for a for a vicious assault on one of our EMS members.
0:46:24
So we take not only for our investigation very seriously, but the safety of our members very seriously.
0:46:29
So that doesn't come up a lot, but we also oversee all the security for the fire department for our facilities as well as our personnel.
0:46:38
And we make sure that people are not assaulting our personnel.
