Course Description: This is an ICI foundation specialty course that will provide the basics for conducting investigations into fire or explosion incidents. The investigator will be given the information to determine whether a fire or explosion is accidental or criminal and is designed to enhance the origin and cause investigative skills of the law enforcement fire investigator. This course provides instruction in explosives identification and applications, explosives effects, IED component recognition and evidence collection.

The student will also learn a systematic method of investigating a fire or explosion scene, search warrants as they apply to both investigations, fire dynamics, fire chemistry, burn pattern analysis and fire scene and explosion scene documentation. This will include the basic techniques, the resources, and describing the steps necessary to obtain a search warrant in a fire or explosion incident. At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to: understand the role and responsibilities of the fire/explosion investigator, utilize other fire/explosion investigative techniques to determine whether a fire/explosion is accidental or criminal and how to effectively use outside experts in developing their cases and court presentations.