It is a great Frontline program - really calls into question all arson investigations nationwide. The Chicago Tribune had a good piece back in 2006 (Click here to read it)

the New Yorker had an excellent story on this a while back as well:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann

Frontline last night was titled "Death by Fire" and was about a man in Texas who was executed after having been found guilty of murdering his children by burning the house. It was determined afterward that the fire was an accident. But the show's main point was that the vast majority of arson investigators in this country are former Firefighters and that they are not qualified to judge this stuff as the cause of a fire is highly scientific. Worth checking out.

Jersey City's new fire chief not pleased that investigating suspected arsons has been shifted to Police Department

Thursday, October 21, 2010
By MARK MAURER
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City Police Department has now taken over the duties of investigating suspicious fires - and the city's newly named fire chief is not happy about it.

"This is something that has me truly baffled," Fire Chief Darren Rivers said this week. "My hands are tied. It makes it virtually impossible for me to do my job."

To cope with a city budget gap in January, Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy slashed the number of Fire Department arson investigators from 13 to 3. Ten investigators were reassigned to firehouses to replace retirees, officials said.

But with the number of suspicious fires to be investigated continuing to mount, the city administration decided in September to have the three remaining arson investigators determine cause and origin of the fires and then turn over all follow-up investigations to the Police Department.

The arson investigators had been empowered to not only investigate, but to also make arrests. With the change in September, the arson investigators were stripped of their police powers and guns.

Rivers, who was sworn in on Sept. 24, believes splitting the responsibility for a fire investigation is impractical.

"I just think it's very difficult for two agencies to investigate one crime," Rivers said.

According to the state Division of Criminal Justice, only a certified fire investigator can present evidence regarding the cause and origin of a fire in court, Rivers said, noting most police detectives don't have that certification.

Given economic realities, the change was necessary, Healy said.

"The downsizing or elimination of the Arson Squad is something that was considered by previous administrations and has been something this administration has been analyzing for more than three years," Healy said in a statement. "The motivation behind this is strictly fiscal, as we work to downsize government and reduce the duplication of services.

"The Fire Department has a number of firefighters who are trained to determine cause and origin, and if a fire is deemed suspicious, the investigation will be handled by the Special Investigations Unit of the Jersey City Police Department and/or the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office," Healy added.

Police Chief Tom Comey said his staff of 88 precinct detectives has excelled at fire investigations.

"This task is not something we sought, but we will do to the best of our abilities with the anticipated cooperation of the Fire Department," Comey said.

The arson unit currently has more than 100 suspicious open cases, Rivers said. Since 2005, it has conducted 1,454 fire investigations, resulting in 406 fires deemed arson-related and 181 arrests, Rivers said.

Rivers said he is trying to organize a way in which the investigators provide basic instructions to police on determining cause and origin of fires.

But he added, "It's impossible to train 140 officers in cause and origin in three months."

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Before change, Jersey City had been alone in having arson investigators who carried guns

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Firefighters carrying firearms is an uncommon privilege statewide, though neither the state Department of Law and Public Safety nor the Division of Fire Safety maintains a record of the number of armed arson units.

Jersey City was the only municipality in Hudson County that had an armed arson unit.

The Newark Fire Department has an armed, six-member arson unit in which one investigator is assigned to the arson task force in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, says Newark Fire Department spokesman John Brown.

Jersey City Fire Chief Darren Rivers maintains that stripping the city's arson unit members of their guns in September violated city ordinance No. 01-132, approved in 2001. This ordinance grants the arson unit "the same powers and authority as police officers."

"We don't view this as a violation of this ordinance, as the Fire Department will still be determining cause and origin and will be working with the police and Prosecutor's Office to investigate arson fires," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said in a statement.

MARK MAURER