Fire Investigation Unit
To assist Onondaga County fire chiefs fulfill their responsibilities under General Municipal Law 204-d, the Fire Investigation Unit can be requested to determine the cause of a fire or explosion. Requests for the County FIU are directed through Emergency Communications (911).
Fire investigation reports are submitted to the Director of Fire and maintained by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. Fire investigation reports can be obtained from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, Police Records (315) 435-3010.
In addition to investigating fires, the FIU partners with the Department of Aging and Youth and the City of Syracuse Fire Department to work with juvenile fire setters. Members of the FIU are available to present programs on fire prevention.
APPRENTICE PROGRAM
The FIU Apprentice Program provides a combination of classroom training and field experience for individuals working toward proficiency as a Fire Investigator. Click here for an application form.
2024 Fire Investigation Unit Honored:
On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, our Onondaga County FIU received the International Association of Arson
Investigators, Inc. (IAAI) Alton L. Lewis Memorial Fire Investigation Team of the Year Award
on for an incident that happened in North Syracuse on November 22, 2022.
Pictured above is Fire Investigator Ron Ryan accepting the award for Fire Investigation Team of the Year.
Although the incident resulted in a double fatality, the FIU was able to bring the case to a successful conclusion. During the painstaking removal of debris and reconstruction of the fire scene, investigators were successful in finding the “needle in a hay stack” to pinpoint the origin and cause of the fire and utilized data available and collected during the documentation of the incident and arranged it into a logical and rational format arranged in chronological order while comparing the hard data to physical fire modeling (a well-accepted and recognized method utilized in analyzing fire events).
2016 Fire Investigation Unit Honored:
On May 12, 2016, the New York State Fire Investigators Association Chapter #23 of the IAAI awarded the Onondaga County Fire Investigation Unit the Alton L. Lewis Fire Investigation Team of the Year award.
2008 Fire Investigators Honored:
In 2008, two members of the County Fire Investigation Unit were honored as the James H. McGroarty Memorial Fire Investigators of the Year.
Fire Investigation Pictures Over the Years:
These pictures will show you the dangers of fires and what common items can cause fires.
