MORGANTOWN — Arson investigators from across West Virginia and surrounding states gathered at the Holiday Inn on Pineview Drive for the West Virginia chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigator’s annual training conference.
George Harms, chapter president and state fire marshal, said private and public arson investigators attend the conference each year for at least 16 hours of training.
Private arson investigators often work for insurance companies and do a similar job as public investigators, like fire marshals, Harms explained.
The two types of investigators have a “great working relationship in the industry,” and private investigators refer criminal cases to public ones, he said.
This year, the conference, held Monday and Tuesday, had classes on crime scene photography, peer support and electrical fires. Harms said the conference finds experts to teach the classes.
Attendees learned about sources of electrical fires, and the big takeaway was that a properly wired building is pretty safe, said Ken Tennant, fire marshal with Morgantown Fire Department.
“It’s normally the things plugged in,” he said.
Photographing arson crime scenes differs from other types of crime scenes because most of the scene is black from soot or being charred, said Steve Compton, a forensic investigator with the West Virginia State Police.
Compton taught the crime scene photography class and said investigators need to learn to take photographs in the absence of light.
The peer support class was important because public safety workers need to take care of each other, Tennant said.
He said a lot of people in these jobs might not realize they have post-traumatic stress disorder. Tennant said the affect of what’s seen on the job is cumulative and can sneak up on you.
Oliver Alkire, a Maryland state fire marshal and K-9 handler, said he enjoys coming to Morgantown for the conference every year.
Alkire works with Kachina, a 55-pound black Labrador retriever. Kachina is an accelerant detection dog, Alkire said.
When investigators suspect arson or want to rule out arson, Kachina comes in to detect flammable liquids. If Kachina finds a substance, a sample is collected and sent to a lab for testing.
“It’s top-notch training,” he said.
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