Team History, Purpose, and Mission Statement
History
The Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team is a shared resource through the Hennepin County Fire Chief’s Association. In 2004, Ed Anderson, Deputy Fire Marshal for the City of Golden Valley, pitched the idea of a “team concept” to the group and with their blessing, became the first team supervisor and worked to get more persons involved and the team officially was available for investigation callouts in December of 2005. Since that time, the team continues to be a valuable resource to all fire departments within Hennepin County needing fire investigation assistance.
Purpose
These guidelines have been developed and designed as a standard operating procedure for all Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team Members. It will help guide and direct them in their performance and assigned tasks. These recommended policies and procedures are designed to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the fire investigation team through awareness, mutual understanding, cooperation, and uniformity. The policies, rules and regulations that govern the activities of the Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team are set forth herein.
The Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team is comprised of multi-agency, multi-discipline professionals dedicated to coordinating fire investigations and training. The team members use their time and skills to assist other agencies within the county (through mutual aid agreements) with origin and cause investigations. The purpose of this document is to establish guidelines and recommendations for the safe and systematic investigation or analysis of fire and explosion incidents. It is through an efficient and accurate determination of the cause and responsibility, that future fire incidents can be avoided. By using a systematic approach to uncover factual data, and the scientific method, together it will provide for the organizational and analytical process necessary for a successful fire investigation. The concept of the team is to assist area incident commanders with the resources they may need in order to determine the most probable cause of a fire or explosion. The probable cause will be determined through effective interviews, thorough scene examinations and processing, and solidified through a written fire investigation report.
Mission Statement
- To build an organized team that will provide effective, enhanced, origin and cause fire investigations.
- To promote the continued education and improvement of skills of the team members.
- To provide fire investigation awareness training to member departments.
- Along with support from other local agencies and organizations, the team will strive to share fire investigation resources.