Fire and Arson Investigation

By State law (C148 s3), the Waltham Fire Department is required to investigate the cause of all fires or explosions of suspicious origin and fires or explosions which have destroyed or damaged property to determine if such fire or explosion was caused by carelessness or design. While all fires are presumed to be accidental in nature until proven otherwise, our Fire Prevention staff works with the State Fire Marshal's office and other agencies such as ATF to investigate all fires involving fatalities and those of suspicious origin. The State Fire Marshal keeps a record of all fires and explosions occurring in the Commonwealth with the results of such investigations and such records being open to public inspection.

Members of the Waltham Fire Prevention Division have received special training in fire and arson investigation from the Massachusetts Fire Fighting Academy and studied the subject in applicable training courses.