Becoming an FDNY Arson Investigator

[SeminoleB]

I was wondering if anyone here knew the process of becoming an arson investigator with FDNY. I know in some places, the PD takes care of arson investigations, however, I don't think is true in NYC, but I'm not sure. IIRC, I've a few of the arson books I've read spoke of FDNY handling the investigations, but they're older books and I'm not sure if that still holds true.

Anyway, I am an aspiring FDNY firefighter in the current hiring process, meaning that, even if I scored well compared to the rest of the applicant pool, I'm still at least a year or two out. So, I've been considering working for another city/state agency to build up retirement and vacation time while I'm waiting. Plus, I just wouldn't mind having a decent, solid job between now and then.

NYPD is one I've considered that is ALWAYS recruiting, which made me curious. I'm guessing that FDNY investigators have to go through a LE course, but is there a specific one for FDNY, or is there a general, state LEO cert that covers that? E.G. Would working for NYPD while I'm waiting help me should I get hired and decide to become an FDNY arson investigator down the road?

Also, what is the process/timeline to becoming an arson investigator? Is there a set number of years or required rank to be achieved before you can be promoted? Do they even promote out of the firefighter pool, or is it a separate recruiting drive?

Any information you guys have is appreciated. Thanks for your time. Stay safe.

[Taz288]

Becoming a Fire Marshall in NYC is via a promotional test for those in the rank of FF in the FDNY

[SeminoleB]

Becoming a Fire Marshall in NYC is via a promotional test for those in the rank of FF in the FDNY

Awesome. Thank you, Taz. Do they get trained as a Marshal through FDNY (I take it as they do), or is there another course that must be taken before taking the promotional test.

In Texas, you've gotta take the Texas Commission Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education course to become an Arson Investigator. The larger cities put you through the course, but if you're working for smaller cities or the counties, sometimes you've gotta take it on your own.

That's why I was wondering if it was beneficial to go through NYPD training prior to taking that promotional test.

Thank you for the information.

[FFFRED]

Awesome. Thank you, Taz. Do they get trained as a Marshal through FDNY (I take it as they do), or is there another course that must be taken before taking the promotional test.

In Texas, you've gotta take the Texas Commission Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education course to become an Arson Investigator. The larger cities put you through the course, but if you're working for smaller cities or the counties, sometimes you've gotta take it on your own.

That's why I was wondering if it was beneficial to go through NYPD training prior to taking that promotional test.

Thank you for the information.

It is a civil service examination...no prior expereince or credentials will help you (other than you must be a fireman to begin with)...it is mostly reading comprehension.

We are the FDNY...not the NYPD...if you want to be a cop and carry a gun...it would be better for you and us if you joined the NYPD and stayed there.

FTM-PTB

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

It is a civil service examination...no prior expereince or credentials will help you (other than you must be a fireman to begin with)...it is mostly reading comprehension.

We are the FDNY...not the NYPD...if you want to be a cop and carry a gun...it would be better for you and us if you joined the NYPD and stayed there.

FTM-PTB

Don't you think you should have mentioned that the FDNY BFI works in close cooperation with NYPD Arson/Explosives division as well as the BATF? The fact remains that the FDNY BFI is a bureau that is devoted to forensic investigation.

[SeminoleB]

It is a civil service examination...no prior expereince or credentials will help you (other than you must be a fireman to begin with)...it is mostly reading comprehension.

We are the FDNY...not the NYPD...if you want to be a cop and carry a gun...it would be better for you and us if you joined the NYPD and stayed there.

FTM-PTB

Jesus, Fred, give it a break and step down from your high horse. While your advice is oh-so-helpful and God-like, I don't need you to tell me what I do and don't want to do, nor what I should do.

While you seem like a smart guy, you obviously miss the damn point, or just decide to make it whatever you feel at that moment. Where in my post does it say that I don't want to be a firefighter? I'm pretty sure I can spell and that I put FDNY is my goal, NOT NYPD.

However honorable you think it might be for a firefighter hopeful to sit on his/her hands just waiting anxiously for the call, some of us would rather have employment that will benefit our futures until that time. Just because I'm considering NYPD/FDNY EMS/making balloon animals for Bloomberg/whatever puts me in the retirement system earlier, doesn't mean that I don't want to be a firefighter first and foremost.

POSSIBLY SOMEDAY, I MIGHT want to be an arson investigator as I move along in my fire career and perhaps I'd like to give myself the best chance for obtaining that goal. If being an NYPD cop, with the added bonus of socking a few years into my retirement time before getting the call for FDNY, can do that for me, so be it.

Seriously, can't you offer some advice without criticism? Just about every one of your posts cuts down the person you're answering to, even if they aren't asking for your input.

You know, if you seem to have done everything right in your path to becoming a firefighter, please feel free to tell us all how we can emulate you. Because, seriously, if you didn't step right onto Randall's Island on your 21st birthday without ever working another job, then I'm fairly certain you worked a job that didn't have anything to do with being a firefighter sometime before becoming one. Would you want someone telling you that, since you weren't born wearing bunker gear and ranked on the list, that you weren't interested enough or right for the job?

[FFFRED]

Jesus, Fred, give it a break and step down from your high horse. While your advice is oh-so-helpful and God-like, I don't need you to tell me what I do and don't want to do, nor what I should do.

While you seem like a smart guy, you obviously miss the damn point, or just decide to make it whatever you feel at that moment. Where in my post does it say that I don't want to be a firefighter? I'm pretty sure I can spell and that I put FDNY is my goal, NOT NYPD.

However honorable you think it might be for a firefighter hopeful to sit on his/her hands just waiting anxiously for the call, some of us would rather have employment that will benefit our futures until that time. Just because I'm considering NYPD/FDNY EMS/making balloon animals for Bloomberg/whatever puts me in the retirement system earlier, doesn't mean that I don't want to be a firefighter first and foremost.

POSSIBLY SOMEDAY, I MIGHT want to be an arson investigator as I move along in my fire career and perhaps I'd like to give myself the best chance for obtaining that goal. If being an NYPD cop, with the added bonus of socking a few years into my retirement time before getting the call for FDNY, can do that for me, so be it.

Seriously, can't you offer some advice without criticism? Just about every one of your posts cuts down the person you're answering to, even if they aren't asking for your input.

You know, if you seem to have done everything right in your path to becoming a firefighter, please feel free to tell us all how we can emulate you. Because, seriously, if you didn't step right onto Randall's Island on your 21st birthday without ever working another job, then I'm fairly certain you worked a job that didn't have anything to do with being a firefighter sometime before becoming one. Would you want someone telling you that, since you weren't born wearing bunker gear and ranked on the list, that you weren't interested enough or right for the job?

I give advice to certain people like you based on what I know about you through your past history of postings on here and your attitude towards our job and how you think it should be based on what ever dept's you are familiar with or tested with or how the backdoor is a good way on this job...etc.

I've worked plenty of jobs prior to getting on this job and that is the best thing about this Dept is that we don't care what you did before...just that you want to be here and do THIS JOB and you take the open competitive against everyone else thus demonstrating you are the best man for the job.

You can work wherever you want to prior to getting on the job...I wanted to make it crystal clear to you since you didn't seem to get it last time....We don't care about where you worked and what you do prior to getting on this job means nothing to us or to your promotional oportunities...period. I don't know how many times this can be explained on here before everyone understands.

The whole point is you don't need to be born with bunker gear on to get this job or to promote...it has everything to do with what you do in OUR job...not what you think you will learn in the NYPD or wherever. Ask a cop if it will help in a career with them if you have any prior experience with the FDNY or EMS...they will give you the same response I did...probably worse.

They want people who are first interested in being police officers before they are interested in doing all the special details that cops have...and we want and need people who are interested in being firemen first before doing other things...because for a number of years that is what you will be doing.

You should be worried about getting on the job period before you think about taking promotional exams. Don't put the cart before the horse.

FTM-PTB

[FFFRED]

Don't you think you should have mentioned that the FDNY BFI works in close cooperation with NYPD Arson/Explosives division as well as the BATF? The fact remains that the FDNY BFI is a bureau that is devoted to forensic investigation.

George, I know what they do and who they work with...I just wanted to make it crystal clear to this guy that nothing you do before you get on this job...will have any effect on your promotional oportunities.

The short amount of time this guy would do in Patrol in the NYPD would do him no good as our Marshals are trained when they are promoted.

FTM-PTB

[SeminoleB]

I give advice to certain people like you based on what I know about you through your past history of postings on here and your attitude towards our job and how you think it should be based on what ever dept's you are familiar with or tested with or how the backdoor is a good way on this job...etc.

I've worked plenty of jobs prior to getting on this job and that is the best thing about this Dept is that we don't care what you did before...just that you want to be here and do THIS JOB and you take the open competitive against everyone else thus demonstrating you are the best man for the job.

You can work wherever you want to prior to getting on the job...I wanted to make it crystal clear to you since you didn't seem to get it last time....We don't care about where you worked and what you do prior to getting on this job means nothing to us or to your promotional oportunities...period. I don't know how many times this can be explained on here before everyone understands.

The whole point is you don't need to be born with bunker gear on to get this job or to promote...it has everything to do with what you do in OUR job...not what you think you will learn in the NYPD or wherever. Ask a cop if it will help in a career with them if you have any prior experience with the FDNY or EMS...they will give you the same response I did...probably worse.

They want people who are first interested in being police officers before they are interested in doing all the special details that cops have...and we want and need people who are interested in being firemen first before doing other things...because for a number of years that is what you will be doing.

You should be worried about getting on the job period before you think about taking promotional exams. Don't put the cart before the horse.

FTM-PTB

And all I want to do is be a firefighter with FDNY. Sure, I have interest in Arson Investigation, just like I would in promoting up the combat chain. But, whatever happens down the road is unforseen and all up in the air, and it definitely does not supercede my main goal of just getting the opportunity to work for this great department.

While my previous posts might have defended what this or that department has done/does do and gone against the grain of what FDNY normally does, I most certainly do not agree in any way with them "lowering" requirements. I do not want to have a black mark on my person before I walk in the door because anyone thinks I'm not up to the task, although I think that'll happen no matter what with the way the new entry requirements are. My previous comparisons to other places or departments is purely because it's what I've personally experienced, not necessarily what I think FDNY will/should do.

I think that, regardless, anyone coming in under the new system will likely be looked at with a negative connotation, but it is up to each one of us to prove our worth and abilities, just like it has been in the past.

I thank you for the information and appreciate your take. I assure you, though, my main concern and goal is to be a New York City firefighter and spend many years doing just that. I guess you could call my inquiries about Arson Investigation "future career options"...