Fire Investigator 3rd Edition

IFSTA's Fire Investigator, 3rd Edition is the manual for the specialist role of determining how and why a fire started, and SkillsTrain imports and supplies it into Africa. Fire investigation is the compilation and analysis of information related to fires and explosions, usually to establish origin and cause, work that sits apart from firefighting itself and demands a methodical, evidence driven mindset.

Published in 2022, the 3rd Edition maps to NFPA 1033, Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator (2021 edition), and places heavy emphasis on NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (2020 edition), the reference most fire investigators work from day to day. The 490 page manual runs across 14 chapters, covering scene safety, fire dynamics, how fire patterns are read, evidence collection and preservation, scene examination, and how findings are documented and presented, including when they may be tested in a legal setting.

Because an investigator's conclusions can support insurance decisions and even prosecutions, the discipline is held to a defensible, standards based method rather than opinion, which is exactly what NFPA 921 and 1033 set out and what this manual teaches. For a service standing up its own investigation capability, having personnel trained to a recognised standard also means their findings carry more weight with insurers, courts and oversight bodies.

Who it is for: fire investigators, inspectors moving into investigation work, and fire services building an internal investigation capability. It also serves as a structured reference for investigators who want to keep their method aligned with the current NFPA guidance rather than relying on experience alone. SkillsTrain supplies this as IFSTA's published work and does not write or accredit it.