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Support Services
Technical/Community Services Office:
Deputy Chief Vernon Brown
Fire Investigation (Arson)
The Fire Investigation Division has two distinct parts, the Arson Investigation Unit and the Firestop Program.
- Arson Investigation – The IFD Arson Investigation Unit is unique as a combined police/fire unit. There are five teams consisting of a police detective and fire investigator. Each individual is cross-trained in the other’s discipline. The fire investigator has full police powers and the police detective is fully trained in origin and cause of fire determination. The unit has an accelerant detection canine that is available to all Marion County Fire Departments and the Arson Task Force (ATF). Once a fire has been determined to be of suspicious origin, the unit responds to the fire scene to begin the investigation. The police officer gathers information about witnesses and conducts interviews on the scene. The firefighter inspects the scene and attempts to make a determination about the cause of the fire. The investigators then pool the information that they have gathered and make a joint determination about whether the fire was intentionally set and whether it should be referred to the prosecutor’s office. The investigators then follow the case in team mode, conducting follow-up interviews and investigations and, if necessary, testifying in court. During the follow-up investigation, the IFD member of the team may recreate the scene to determine how the fire was set and how it spread.
- Firestop Program – If firefighters at an emergency scene suspect that a fire has been set by a juvenile, they notify the Fire Investigations Unit, which will dispatch a team to investigate on behalf of the IFD Firestop Program, a program which counsels young fire starters. If the investigating team determines that a juvenile has started the fire, then that child is referred to the Firestop Program for counseling. The Firestop Coordinator, a civilian employee, interviews and counsels all juveniles referred from age two to eighteen. Firestop has had a dramatic effect in reducing the damage done by children who set fires. Juvenile fire setters are referred to the Firestop Program from various other sources such as schools (referred by IPS Officials), Juvenile Court as part of probation, concerned parents or caregivers, Child Protective Services, mental health professionals, and other agencies that are working with identified young fire setters.
Support Services
The IFD Support Services Division is responsible for the overall maintenance and purchase of facilities and vehicles for the Indianapolis Fire Department. The division is also responsible for the maintenance of 29 buildings, including the IFD Fire Stations.
Support Services, commonly referred to as “The Shops”, lives up to its title. Not only are fire trucks, engines, ladders, squads, and hoses in their realm of service and repair, but all fire houses, pool cars, and staff cars are included as well. Support Services reaches across a broad band of City Governmental Departments including Purchasing, Special Operations, IFD Finance, and IFD Operations. The division also works with a large number of vendors and contractors to insure that not only is IFD getting the best return on its investment of machinery and equipment, but that the safety of the firefighters, their equipment and their place of employment meet the highest standards.
Fire Prevention
The Fire Prevention Division is headed by the Fire Marshall and is responsible for enforcement of fire codes, building inspections and public education.
The Code Enforcement arm of the Fire Prevention Division is responsible for inspecting the hundreds of buildings in Indianapolis to ensure that each structure complies with the fire codes that have been established on the federal, state, and local level. The City of Indianapolis is divided into four battalions (quadrants) and there are two inspectors from the Fire Prevention Division assigned to each of the battalions. Those inspectors systematically inspect – and if necessary, re-inspect – each of the buildings in Indianapolis to ensure that the buildings meet fire codes and that the public is safe when visiting the building. The inspectors are routinely called to fire scenes to issue citations for violations of fire code that on-scene firefighters might discover after responding to a fire.
Public Education
The Public Education section of the Fire Prevention Division is responsible for educating the public at large concerning the dangers presented by fire, fire hazards, and the proper methods for dealing with a working fire. The majority of the Public Education effort is in area schools, where the Fire Prevention staff provides age-specific training to hundreds of school children each year. The Public Education section also provides training for employees and residents of nursing homes, as well as any commercial business that requests fire safety training for its employees.
Survive Alive
A showcase for Public Education is the Survive Alive Program that is located in the headquarters for Firefighters Local Union 416. Survive Alive is staffed by IFD personnel and teaches young visitors about the dangers of fire, how to “Stop, Drop and Roll” to extinguish clothing that might catch on fire, and how to react if they should have a fire in their home. Survive Alive also helps to familiarize children with firefighters who – when fully outfitted in helmet, coat and breathing apparatus take on the appearance of Darth Vader – might frighten children into hiding during an emergency. The Survive Alive Program also teaches children the EDITH Program. EDITH stands for “Exit Drills in the House” and teaches youngsters how to escape from a burning building.
Parents and Teachers
Visit our instructional guide and learn how to use this unique site to educate your children about surviving a fire and other important safety issues.
High Rise Program
The IFD High Rise Division is responsible for developing response protocols and general planning for response to emergencies that might occur in any of the more than 200 high rise buildings in Indianapolis. A high rise building is defined by the department as any structure four stories or more in height.
The High Rise Manager develops preplanning for incidents including written operational procedures for high rise response. The High Rise Manager is also responsible for obtaining special tools, equipment and apparatus that might be necessary for responding to high rise incidents. Pre-planning – seeking out problems to develop solutions before an incident takes place – is a vital part of high rise operations.
The High Rise Manager is responsible for all training relative to high rise operations, including preparation for defense against domestic terrorists that might employ nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The High Rise Manager utilizes a tactical simulator room (model city) where controlled lights simulate flame and “safe” smoke is emitted from fire areas in various size buildings for command and company training.
The High Rise Division also develops training programs that encompass basics in high rise fire considerations for recruit training, fire companies, mutual aide responders and building occupants. Such programs include development of emergency action plans and training of civilians, like building security, managers, and maintenance personnel. The civilian training places emphasis on what assistance fire fighters may need from the private sector during an emergency.
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