Roy Warren
Roy has served in the New Zealand fire service for 30 years, and
been responsible for determining the origin and cause of fire for
20 years. He has been a specialist fire investigator for the past 6
years and now runs the central Auckland Fire Investigation
team.
He says "As a specialist fire investigator I am required to respond
to significant fires in accordance with the National Commanders
instructions. I am to coordinate, supervise and undertake
investigations into major and serious fires, including suspicious
and fatal fires. My objective is to determine the origin and cause
of the fire. I have completed all NZ Fire Service Investigation
courses. I am a graduate member of the Institution of Fire
Engineers (UK) by examination. I have degrees from The University
of Auckland in Psychology, Education and Counseling and have given
evidence in court as an expert witness on several
occasions".
Why do you do the job, what motivates you?
I enjoy the challenge of uncovering a mystery by proper
deduction. It's immensely satisfying arriving at a break
through discovery.
Tell us about the process of fire
investigation.
Fire Investigation is a matter of gathering timelines,
interviewing people and examining the scene, coming up with
theories, then eliminating those that are not supported by the
evidence to reach a reliable conclusion.
What is the most interesting part of the job for
you?
It's the discovery of something that no one realized
happened, or when someone did do something but didn't realise they
had contributed to the fire.
How do you handle the human cost of fire?
I try to show compassion and patience but still do my job.
I make an effort to link people into their own supports - family
and neighbours, shielding them from inquiring people. In a strange
way, it's easier to work where the deceased person is than to deal
with the distraught family and friends.
Tell us about some of the most common causes of
fire and what frustrates you about them.
Seeing the same causes over and again is frustrating. We
advertise extensively to warn people about such basic issues to
prevent fires yet the same things keep coming up time and
again.
How do you feel about people who deliberately set
fires?
I see it as purely selfish unthinking behavior - for instance with
school fire they are burning down a precious community resource.
They might say they didn't mean to but it's self-delusion,
believing their own lies.
What was it like to have a film crew shadowing you while
you worked?
Sometimes having to enunciate my thoughts to the camera crew helped
to clarify my thought processes. We are often so familiar with the
impact of fire that I was amazed how shocked the film crew was when
they saw the level of damage within a fire, even a relatively small
fire. The devastating loss of personal effects or even just the
loss of a fridge they had been paying off for two years. It was a
reality check for me.
