20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.
You split time between inspections, investigations, and paperwork. Mornings often start with reviewing incident reports in NFIRS or FIREHOUSE and scheduling site visits. Afternoons go to scenes: photographing damage, dusting for latent fingerprints, collecting and packaging evidence, and coordinating with police or fire departments.
Evenings or office time are for writing reports in Microsoft Word, entering case notes in your code database, emailing leads with Outlook, and preparing presentations in PowerPoint for court or community meetings.
Expect to use NFIRS and FIREHOUSE for incident records; the code database for local fire code violations; and Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint for reports, permits, spreadsheets, emails, and briefings. Web browsers pull building codes and permit rules.
If you do fire modeling or technical analysis, you might run CFAST or FDS (Fire Dynamics Simulator) to test fire behavior and produce simulations for reports or court.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 13,800 people were employed as security investigators (SOC 33-2021.00). The median pay was $75,920 per year; the lowest 10% earned about $46,530 and the top 10% about $118,750.
Pay varies by agency (municipal vs. state), overtime, and technical roles like evidence handling or fire modeling.
Begin with fire science, criminal justice, or an associate degree and look for courses in fire dynamics, evidence handling, and fire codes. Learn NFIRS reporting and basic use of FIREHOUSE if your local department uses it.
Volunteer with a municipal fire department, take fingerprinting and evidence packaging classes, and practice writing incident reports in Word and Excel spreadsheets for logs and timelines.
A firefighter fights fires and performs rescues; an arson investigator is a specialist who determines fire origin and cause. A security investigator blends roles: enforcing fire prevention rules, reviewing blueprints and permits, supervising inspections, and supporting municipal fire departments.
You won’t always fight fires, but you will investigate suspicious fires, coordinate with law enforcement, subpoena and interview witnesses, and may use FDS/CFAST for technical analysis—tasks closer to arson investigation plus regulatory enforcement.
Yes, but use AI only for drafting or summarizing: generate a first draft of a report or organize an evidence log from input you verify. Never use AI to interpret evidence or produce legal conclusions without human review; AI can hallucinate details. Save original records (photos, NFIRS entries, model outputs) separately.
For technical modeling inputs to FDS/CFAST, run and check the simulations yourself. Keep chain-of-custody documents, and ensure any AI-assisted text is reviewed and saved in Word with version history.