Who declares a fire arson?

kaitie said:

I'm thinking in the sense that a medical examiner might declare something murder. If there's a fire, who is it that rules whether it is accidental or suspect? I keep thinking there's a special word for it, but I can't for the life of me remember, and my research is just turning up "fire investigator," which doesn't sound right to me.

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If local or state, I think it would be the Fire Marshall - but some larger cities likely do have Fire Investigators, or the like.

If federal, the ATF has folks who investigate suspicious fires, and I'd bet the FBI does as well.

~suki

I'm thinking Arson Investigator.

*sets thread ablaze*

Arson is determined through the local fire department here in the U.S. Fire marshal would/could declare it officially. Arson investigator (chief arson investigator if you want if to sound more official) is the actual person in the fire department that would make the determination. That's how it works in my neck of the woods.

just as you would investigate whether a given state uses a medical examiner vs. coroner, I'd imagine you would want to check for the particular state to see if there are differences there too with regards to arson

most states have state officials called State Fire Marshalls who make that determination...but, it is important to note that they only respond when called by the local fire dept or law enforcement, it's not simply a given that a Fire Marshall attends a fire scene post-loss

if a fire is deemed "suspcious" by law enforcement/fire dept, they'd have the fire marshall there ASAP, within 24 hours or so...but, if the arson suspicions don't arise until much later, let's say in an insurance claim scenario where the items claimed to be lost in the fire don't add up...well, then an insurance company might contact the fire marshall and any fire marshall I know would definitely take a look to see if in fact charges need to be brought criminally for the fire....or, the insurance company might hire private arson experts (cause and origin experts) to make the determination even without the state's involvement