Fire Investigation

Fire Investigation Unit (FIU)

Huber Heights Fire Division Fire Investigation Unit (FIU) is comprised of 4 fire investigators who are on call on a 24 hour basis. Each investigator holds national certifications in fire investigations. The FIU investigates the cause and origin of all major fires within Huber Heights. Our investigations serve to identify trends in fire causes, needs for product recalls, and to improve the safety of our community.


Report Arson: 937-233-1564

Arson

Data

The Huber Heights Fire Division has made a commitment to our community to combat arson with all available resources and means possible. According to the USFA’s National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) data and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), an estimated average of 316,600 intentional fires are reported to fire departments in the United States each year causing injuries to 7,825 firefighters and civilians. In 2006, 10 firefighters died because of arson. In addition to needless injury and death, an estimated $1.1 billion in direct property loss occurs annually.

Arson robs communities of its valuable assets, lives, and property. Arson destroys more than buildings; it can devastate a community resulting in the decline of the neighborhood through increased insurance premiums, loss of business revenue, and a decrease in property values.

Arson Facts

According to the USFA’s NFIRS data and the NFPA, half of all intentional structure fires are started in the home. These fires result in 85 percent of the civilian deaths, 82 percent of the civilian injuries, and 64 percent of the direct property damage from intentional structure fires.

Only 5 percent of fires in homes are intentionally started and in these fires, the bedroom is the leading area of origin. The bathroom is the leading area in public properties such as stores, offices, or schools.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 2008 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)1 statistics showed that 14,011 law enforcement agencies reported 62,807 arsons. Arsons involving structures (e.g., residential, storage, public, etc.) accounted for 43.4 percent of the total number of arson offenses. Mobile property (e.g., cars, motorcycles, etc.) was involved in 28.9 percent of arsons, and other types of property (such as crops, timber, fences, etc.) accounted for 27.7 percent of reported arsons.

The average dollar loss for all types of arson was $16,015. For structures, arson damages were $32,364 on average and $7,890 for motor vehicles. Arsons of industrial and manufacturing structures resulted in the highest average dollar losses-an average of $212,388 per arson.

The rate of arson was 24.1 offenses for every 100,000 inhabitants of the United States in 2007.