A weeklong workshop recently wrapped where 28 of its participants earned a certificate in Competency in Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Determination Training. 

Last week, three international experts in wildfire investigation were on island, teaching representatives from the Guam Fire Department, Department of Agriculture's conservation officers and Forestry Division, Navy Fire, Andersen Fire, and even the Guam Police Department how to identify the causes and sources of wildland fires. The training was supported by a USDA Forest Service Fire Assistance Grant and is an important step in efforts to prosecute arson. One of the participants was TSgt Gregory Francois, is a station captain for Andersen Fire.

"Wildland is something that is very prominent out here obviously in Guam," he said. "Just to have a different perspective, in-depth training so to speak, especially from an organization that's internationally accepted, it's one of the things I wanted to get in on just to get that information and knowledge."

Battalion Chief Ron Castro and Lt. Phil Camacho are with the GFD Fire Prevention Bureau and they say that they do structural investigations and haven't really done wildfire investigations.

"So this training really helped us to gain that knowledge we need to look at clues to determine origin and cause," he said. "It was very good training and an eye-opener. There were a lot of things in there that we didn't know about, it really helped us. As an operator, you go out and put out the grassfire and then you go home and you trample over the evidence because you didn't know better. You can actually find evidence in a structure as well you can find evidence in grassfires to prove arson which is a big problem here."

Spearheading the training was Richard Woods, an Australian career wildfire investigator and lecturer with Charles Sturt University in Australia along with two Canadian wildfire investigators, Ken Ness, from Saskatchewan Province, and Jeff Henricks from Alberta Province.

"They're pretty much like the pioneers of creating this investigation program and courses that are offered now," Ness said. 

With several different partners attending the course, it made sense why they all needed to be there.

"It cannot be done by one person nor just one agency," Henricks said. "It's a collaboration of different agencies, different fields. You need someone from the legal side, the police side, you need somebody from fire. So having these different agencies together is a testament that we have a good working relationship and we need to carry that on and make it work."

The training consisted of classroom lecture and on the field instruction. Both Francois and Camacho appreciated the opportunity to go out to the burn sites and put what they learned in class to work.

"In my opinion, was the greatest part of this whole experience because we're able to get the material and then go out on the field, and actually see how it applies," Francois said. "These instructors are very experienced. So some of the scenarios they threw out at us, was quite difficult but the instructors really helped us and we saw that this stuff actually really works."

"To actually see that they weren't making this stuff up," Camacho said. "We actually saw the patterns, and we actually saw what was going on. Applying what you learned out on the field, it works."

Following the completion of training, a Wildland Fire Investigation Committee was formed on Monday during the Wildland Fire Prevention, Policy & Investigation Workshop. The workshop ensured the establishment of the standard operating procedures for Guam's wildland fire investigation response. Partners from GFD, Navy Fire, the police department, and Agriculture's conservation officers attended along with representatives from Speaker Tina Muna Barnes' and Sen. Sabina Perez's offices. 

"If everyone can do their part, if you see something, say something," Christine Fejeran, Fire Program manager for the Department of Agriculture's Forestry and Soil Resources Division said. "It takes everyone on this island doing their part. If you see something suspicious, report it, call 911 and make that report happen so we can get the conservation officers, or the police department out there because they're coming to our investigation training. This is showing you how serious we are all taking this. And we need you to help us out with that."


Sen. Perez, Speaker Barnes along with Sen. Clynt Ridgell just introduced a bill, which seeks to add the burning of "forest land" as an additional prohibited action under Guam's arson statute. The bill aims to address serious wildfires, which pose a threat to the life, homes, businesses, and property of the people of Guam, in addition to wildlife and the environment.