Fire Investigations Unit

Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Technical Services

The Fire Investigations Unit is recognized as one of the best fire investigation units in the state.  Consistently, this Unit has had an arrest rate of 30-35 percent for those cases considered to be arson, which is considerably higher than the national average, which hovers between 10-15 percent.

In July 2006, a fire investigation dog was added to the Sheriff's Canine Unit, one of only five in the State of Michigan.  The dog has extensive training to indicate the exact location of a fire's origin and is able to identify and track residue on fire starting materials and on suspects.  Currently, the canine is certified in numerous accelerants and training for additional accelerants will continue.