How many crime scenes did your firefighters and paramedics perform operations at in 1995? How about in 2005? Many jurisdictions are finding that their personnel are responding to more and more crime scenes, but their training is not meeting the task.

In the 1980s and 1990s, many firefighters received basic training in assisting investigators on arson fires. This training was geared toward providing line firefighters with an appreciation for the complexities faced by the investigators in developing a workable arson scene into a case for criminal prosecution. Were the doors and windows locked or did you have to force entry? What color was the smoke? Did you smell any unusual odors after extinguishing the fire? While these tips are still appropriate, crime scene environment and investigator capability have dramatically changed.

Today's firefighters are barraged with responses to illegal storage of hazardous materials or methamphetamine labs, violent crime responses, and the continuing arson problem. What are some of the basic tenets that all fire department personnel should be concerned with in entering, operating and leaving a crime scene?

In this hyper-vigilant era, firefighters often are trained to observe people leaving the scene, vehicles with lights off driving erratically or even those with an unusual interest in the firefighters' activities. Maintaining this sense of awareness and developing the habit of writing down specific observations in a diary or log may be beneficial in the case of a delayed investigation or inquiry by an investigator.

Firefighters entering the scene provide all sorts of concerns for forensic personnel. The “bull in a china shop” description is one we want to avoid at all costs. As always, we want to ensure that the scene is safe to enter by our personnel and that a “crime in progress” gets a law enforcement response to clear the building of occupants who may pose a threat to our personnel and to secure the scene for further public safety activities. If law enforcement isn't on scene, follow your department's protocol for ensuring that a law enforcement presence is established and the scene is indeed safe to enter.

If law enforcement personnel are on scene, all fire department personnel should go in through the same entryway. If a single law enforcement officer has arrived and secured the scene and advises that it's safe to enter, that officer may not have the ability to survey the entire building and protect critical pieces of potential evidence from being disturbed. Arriving fire department personnel may disturb evidence, bring in contaminants from outside on the soles of their shoes and otherwise contaminate a workable crime scene. If the police entered through the open front door, have the fire team enter through the same door and resist wandering throughout the building if it isn't necessary for life- and property-saving activities.

Another issue is that if four or five personnel aren't required to assist the patient or provide critical assistance, the officer should limit the initial arrival into the scene with one or two team members and leave the remainder of the crew on the apparatus until they're needed to improve on-site operations. Many times we all go in to see what's going on, multiplying the potential for destroying evidence.

As a chief officer, I would usually stay outside the building until the situation was under control and enter only after I sought permission from the investigator or the interior division/group supervisor. Some officers may question my approach, as I have full authority to enter the interior at any point in the operations. I would reply that I wanted to make sure I wasn't adding to the confusion and clutter on the inside just to satisfy my own curiosity. This approach also communicates my respect for their professional competence in that I trust their verbal reports and didn't have to check up on them by coming in and looking around.

After entering the building, ask the lead law enforcement or fire investigator if there are any areas you should avoid or be extra-careful in. This may prevent a firefighter from opening a window or forcing a door and destroying tool marks, fingerprints, smoke stains and other evidence. Flagging or taping-off an area of interest may assist the investigation greatly by keeping later-arriving personnel out of the area. I've had investigators advise all personnel to stay out of two or three rooms of a structure and to perform other activities. The area of fire origin was preserved for later examination.

After entry, the next topic of concern is handling potential evidence. Obviously, if there's potential evidence at the scene, fire personnel should just leave it alone. But what if it's an integral part of your duties? Can you cut the clothing off of a gunshot victim? Can you move full gasoline cans and other accelerants so that they don't ignite? The answer to both of these questions is, of course, yes.

In the first scenario, cutting off a victim's clothing is critical to exposing the torso and performing an assessment of the chest for further injuries, wounds and respiratory sufficiency. If it's possible, cutting the clothing on a seam and avoiding any bullet holes, bloodstains and other potential areas of forensic interest is preferable. In most cases, when cutting off clothing, it's better to leave it on the floor of the crime scene than to transport it to the emergency room. Ask for specific direction when in doubt.

If containers of accelerants must be moved, try to mentally note the exact point and position that they were stored for later reconstruction of the scene by the experts. When removing the containers, try to avoid the natural handle and pick it up from the side or bottom. Limit the movement to one team member, one time. If possible, removing containers to the exterior of the building where they will be physically supervised and can't be tampered with is the best approach.

When performing suppression duties, try to limit the amount of damage from water, run-off and opening-up activities. If a small hole in the wall will suffice to check for fire extension, so be it. After the smoke is removed by ventilation, the investigator can get photographic documentation of each room of interest and then the truck or ladder company personnel can open up the rest of the sheetrock and ensure the fire is fully extinguished. These coordinated efforts can really improve operations.

Leaving through the same door you came in is preferable for obvious reasons, if practical. Getting your observations and the tasks you performed in writing as soon as possible will be of great assistance to the team. Many officers will have each member of the team write a narrative supplement to the fire report on every response where activities were performed in a potential crime scene environment. Documentation is going to be the final area that fire personnel can assist in the successful outcome of a criminal case.

Aside from routine operations, firefighters are asked to do the impossible on a regular basis. Using a little common sense and forethought can turn the mundane event into a successful operation and have positive long-term community results in the process.

John Linstrom is a senior associate with Citygate Associates, a municipal consulting practice in Sacramento, Calif. He's an adjunct faculty member for Texas A&M University and the National Fire Academy. Linstrom currently serves as a battalion chief/paramedic in Apple Valley, Calif. He also serves as commander of the DHS/FEMA DMORT for Region IX and has been involved in the national USAR program since 1996.