Top 12 Fire Investigator Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the fast-moving, detail-heavy world of fire investigation, the skills you showcase can tilt the odds. Clarity. Method. Discipline. This guide spotlights a dozen core capabilities worth elevating on your resume—and sharpening in the field.
Fire Investigator Skills
- Arson Analysis
- Evidence Collection
- Scene Photography
- Interview Techniques
- Fire Dynamics
- Electrical Systems
- Chemical Identification
- CAD Software
- NFPA 921
- IAAI-CFI Certification
- Hazardous Materials
- Report Writing
1. Arson Analysis
Arson analysis is the disciplined process of determining whether a fire was intentionally set. Investigators review burn patterns, fire dynamics, ignition sources, potential accelerants, and human factors to reach defensible, evidence-backed conclusions.
Why It's Important
This is the line between accident and crime. Proper arson analysis supports prosecutions, prevents misattribution, and helps shape policy and prevention strategies grounded in science.
How to Improve Arson Analysis Skills
Anchor to the scientific method: Form hypotheses, test against data, and actively seek disconfirming evidence. Document the reasoning chain.
Deepen pattern recognition: Study validated fire patterns versus misinterpreted artifacts. Practice reading ventilation effects, flow paths, and post-flashover damage.
Strengthen accelerant work: Understand canines’ capabilities and limits, sampling protocols, and lab analysis (e.g., GC-MS) so field collection aligns with lab needs.
Control bias: Use peer review, blind labeling where possible, and standardized checklists to reduce cognitive traps.
Collaborate: Bring in electrical, mechanical, and chemical specialists on complex scenes. Multi-disciplinary eyes catch what solo work misses.
Rigor beats guesswork. Every time.
How to Display Arson Analysis Skills on Your Resume
2. Evidence Collection
Evidence collection is the systematic capture, preservation, and documentation of physical and digital material from a fire scene—so it remains intact, interpretable, and admissible.
Why It's Important
Evidence, not opinions, carries cases. Good collection preserves the truth; poor collection buries it.
How to Improve Evidence Collection Skills
Lock down chain of custody: Unique identifiers, sealed packaging, signatures, and time stamps—every transfer recorded.
Prevent contamination: Dedicated tools for ignitable-liquid sampling, clean gloves, negative controls when appropriate, and careful separation of items.
Package with purpose: Use proper containers (unlined paint cans, glass jars with tight lids, breathable bags where appropriate). Avoid plastic for volatile residues.
Document relentlessly: Photos, sketches, measurements, orientation markers, location grids. Notes that tell the story even months later.
Coordinate with the lab: Collect what analysts need, how they need it. Sampling strategy should mirror analytical capability.
How to Display Evidence Collection Skills on Your Resume
3. Scene Photography
Scene photography captures the fire environment—wide, mid, and tight views—so others can see what you saw and understand how the scene evolved.
Why It's Important
Photos freeze context. They preserve fragile details, support reconstruction, and carry persuasive weight in reports and court.
How to Improve Scene Photography Skills
Start wide, move in: Establish context with overalls, then mediums, then close-ups with scales and orientation. Repeat after significant scene changes.
Master light: Use external flash or continuous lights to kill harsh shadows. Bounce light. Avoid hotspots on reflective debris.
Control depth: Higher f-numbers for depth of field on evidence shots; focus stacking if needed.
Stay methodical: Shoot cardinal directions, then sectors. Include identification cards in frames to track sequence.
Edit lightly: Correct exposure and white balance; never manipulate content. Maintain originals with metadata intact.
How to Display Scene Photography Skills on Your Resume
4. Interview Techniques
Structured, respectful interviews draw out clear timelines, behaviors, and anomalies from witnesses, occupants, and responders.
Why It's Important
People fill the gaps physical evidence can’t. Done well, interviews illuminate ignition opportunities, access, and intent.
How to Improve Interview Techniques Skills
Prepare with purpose: Know your objectives and the scene facts first. Build a question roadmap, not a script.
Build rapport: Calm demeanor, open body language, patience. Trust unlocks details.
Use open questions: “Tell me about…” beats yes/no. Then narrow with specifics.
Listen harder: Note pauses, inconsistencies, sensory details. Clarify gently; don’t lead.
Record accurately: Obtain consent when recording. Otherwise, take contemporaneous notes with clear attributions and time marks.
How to Display Interview Techniques Skills on Your Resume
5. Fire Dynamics
Fire dynamics studies how fires start, grow, spread, and decay—the physics and chemistry beneath the charring.
Why It's Important
Understanding heat release rate, ventilation, fuel loads, and flow paths turns chaotic remains into a readable timeline.
How to Improve Fire Dynamics Skills
Revisit fundamentals: Combustion chemistry, heat transfer, plume behavior, ventilation-limited versus fuel-limited fires.
Train live: Observe controlled burns. Correlate observed behavior with post-fire damage.
Model selectively: Use simulation tools (e.g., fire dynamics simulators) to test hypotheses and visualize scenarios.
Study case literature: Compare cause/origin determinations with scene photos and data. Note where interpretations went right—or wrong.
Connect evidence to physics: Tie patterns to heat and ventilation, not assumptions. Beware post-flashover artifacts.
How to Display Fire Dynamics Skills on Your Resume
6. Electrical Systems
Electrical systems are the circuits, conductors, devices, and loads that power structures. Investigators examine them for failure modes that could have provided an ignition source.
Why It's Important
Electrical faults are common ignition suspects. Distinguishing cause from damage is the hard part—and it matters.
How to Improve Electrical Systems Skills
Learn the codes and failure modes: Ground yourself in applicable electrical codes and typical faults—series/parallel arcing, loose connections, overcurrent, conductor damage.
Examine with discipline: Disassemble devices methodically. Document arc sites, beading, melting, and transfer; interpret in context of heat exposure.
Use tools safely: Employ meters and testers with proper PPE and lockout/tagout. Never energize compromised systems at the scene.
Avoid post-fire trapfalls: Differentiate “arcing due to fire” from “fire due to arcing.” Consider heat directionality, protection device status, and witness marks.
Consult specialists: Complex appliances and panels often merit an electrical engineer’s eye.
How to Display Electrical Systems Skills on Your Resume
7. Chemical Identification
Chemical identification determines which substances were present and how they influenced ignition, spread, or toxicity at a scene.
Why It's Important
From accelerants to oxidizers to toxic byproducts, chemistry can tilt cause determinations and safety decisions.
How to Improve Chemical Identification Skills
Sharpen core chemistry: Volatility, polarity, flash point, vapor density—know how these properties drive behavior.
Sample smart: Target substrates that retain residues, avoid contamination, and pair samples with appropriate controls.
Understand the analytics: Learn what lab instruments detect (e.g., GC-MS signatures), detection limits, and how matrix effects play in.
Use field screening judiciously: PID/FID, colorimetric tubes, and portable IR have strengths and limits. Confirm with laboratory analysis.
Document safety: Flag hazards early—SDS data, PPE requirements, and decontamination procedures.
How to Display Chemical Identification Skills on Your Resume
8. CAD Software
CAD tools help investigators produce scaled diagrams, 3D reconstructions, and clear visuals that explain complex scenes without ambiguity.
Why It's Important
Clean drawings and models reduce confusion, reveal relationships, and elevate testimony and reports.
How to Improve CAD Software Skills
Master the basics first: Layers, blocks, dimensions, and templates. Fast, consistent output beats messy detail.
Work to scale: Use measured drawings, laser scans, or photogrammetry inputs; maintain strict scaling and coordinate systems.
Build 3D when it helps: Model structural elements and openings to depict ventilation paths, fuel placement, and sightlines.
Annotate with intent: Callouts, legends, and orientation markers that communicate, not clutter.
Create a field-to-desk pipeline: Standardize import of photos, notes, and measurements so your CAD files mirror the scene faithfully.
How to Display CAD Software Skills on Your Resume
9. NFPA 921
NFPA 921 is the widely accepted guide for fire and explosion investigations. It lays out systematic, science-based methods for origin-and-cause work.
Why It's Important
Courts and peers expect adherence to its principles. It anchors investigations in tested methodology, not gut feel.
How to Improve NFPA 921 Skills
Study with cases: Read chapters alongside real investigations. Map each step you took to the guide’s methodology.
Use checklists: Convert key processes into field-ready lists—scene safety, hypothesis testing, documentation standards.
Crosswalk with NFPA 1033: Align your competencies with the professional qualifications standard to spot gaps.
Join peer reviews: Present findings and defend them using 921 language. Adjust where your process deviates without reason.
Stay current: Track revisions and emerging research so your practices reflect the latest guidance.
How to Display NFPA 921 Skills on Your Resume
10. IAAI-CFI Certification
IAAI-CFI (Certified Fire Investigator) is a credential signaling education, experience, and tested competence in fire investigation.
Why It's Important
It boosts credibility, validates your methodology, and often opens doors to higher-responsibility assignments.
How to Improve IAAI-CFI Certification Skills
Commit to continuing education: Target advanced topics—electrical failure analysis, fire modeling, evidence law, courtroom testimony.
Build breadth through casework: Seek diverse scenes: structures, vehicles, wildland–urban interface. Complexity grows competence.
Mentor and be mentored: Sharpen your own practice by teaching, and accelerate growth by learning from seasoned CFIs.
Hone courtroom skills: Practice report defensibility and expert witness testimony. Clear, concise, unshakeable.
Track renewal needs: Log training hours, case experience, and professional involvement well before deadlines.
How to Display IAAI-CFI Certification Skills on Your Resume
11. Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials include flammable, toxic, corrosive, reactive, or otherwise dangerous substances that can reshape both the fire and the investigation.
Why It's Important
HazMat changes risk, PPE, sampling, and scene strategy. Miss it and you risk safety—and integrity of evidence.
How to Improve Hazardous Materials Skills
Train to the standard: Achieve and maintain appropriate HazMat/HAZWOPER levels for your role.
Use the right gear: Match PPE to hazards. Calibrate and deploy monitors (oxygen, flammability, toxic gases) with disciplined sampling.
Integrate ICS: Fold investigation tasks into incident command. Clear roles, safe zones, and communication paths.
Plan decon and waste: Establish decontamination lines and evidence handling that preserve both health and chain of custody.
Work with specialists: Coordinate with HazMat teams and environmental agencies for complex scenes and regulated materials.
How to Display Hazardous Materials Skills on Your Resume
12. Report Writing
Report writing is the clear, structured presentation of facts, analyses, and conclusions. It’s where your work speaks without you in the room.
Why It's Important
Good reports survive scrutiny. They guide decisions, support legal action, and stand the test of time.
How to Improve Report Writing Skills
Adopt a consistent structure: Scope, methods, observations, analysis, conclusions, limitations. Predictable and navigable.
Write plainly: Minimal jargon. Define terms. Precision over poetry.
Be concise, not sparse: Include every fact needed; cut what isn’t. Let evidence do the heavy lifting.
Use visuals wisely: Photos, diagrams, and tables with captions and references. Place them where they answer questions.
Review ruthlessly: Proofread, peer review, and verify citations to standards. Fix ambiguities before someone else finds them.
How to Display Report Writing Skills on Your Resume
