New Jersey Division of Fire Safety Celebrates Fire Investigation/K-9 Unit for 20 Years of Dedicated Public Service

• Posted on: 04/20/2023

More than 4,500 Investigations Completed Since 2003

TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Division of Fire Safety (NJDFS) today celebrated its Fire Investigation/K-9 Unit for 20 years of public service. Created in February 2003, the Unit began taking more of an active role in performing fire investigations on state properties and in municipalities where NJDFS serves as the fire official. The following year, the Unit was expanded to include Ignitable Liquid Detection K-9s, an important resource to support fire investigators in their work across the state.  

“I would like to congratulate the Fire Investigation/K-9 Unit for their dedicated service over the past 20 years,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, who serves as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. “The Unit’s commitment and expertise in fire investigation is unparalleled.”

“I am proud of the distinguished work of the Fire Investigation/K-9 Unit,” said NJDFS Director and State Fire Marshal Richard Mikutsky. “With only a handful of investigators, the Unit is able to handle more than 350 investigations per year. Through the years, hundreds of these cases were deemed “Arson” with the help of our K-9 partners.”

The Unit is a primary member of many county fire investigation taskforces and has other notable partnerships with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2018, the Unit assumed most fire investigative duties for NJ State Police jurisdictions, including marine fires. 

Unit personnel investigate all types of fires and have provided depositions and expert courtroom testimony for dozens of cases across the state, which have led to many successful prosecutions for arson, murders, gang/drug activity, domestic terrorism, and other crimes. Additionally, the K-9 Teams have worked large-scale events such as The Miss America Pageant and Super Bowl 48.

The Unit’s first three K-9s were Labrador Retrievers that trained with their handlers for more than 400 hours to become certified to NJ Attorney General guidelines. The Unit has since certified 10 K-9s, including Labradors and German Shepherds, with some that were cross-trained for Tobacco Detection as part of a joint venture with NJ Treasury, as well as Cadaver Detection to expedite searching for victims within hazardous fire scenes. The Unit’s K-9s are certified to detect 30 ignitable liquids in both the raw and burned stages. 

Unit personnel provide Continuing Education training to fire officials in “Ignitable Liquid Detection K-9s,” and “The Scientific Method,” in addition to assisting the NJ Chapter of International Association of Arson Investigators, NJ Division of Criminal Justice Academy, and NJ Forest Fire Service with specialized fire investigation instruction.   

The Unit has been recognized and received numerous awards including the NJ International Association of Arson Investigators (NJ-IAAI) “Unit of the Year” award in 2013, the Governor’s “Team of Excellence” Award in 2022, and the NJ-IAAI “President’s Award” in 2023. 

The New Jersey Division of Fire Safety serves as the central focus for the State's fire service community and the general public in all matters relating to fire safety through the development and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Code, public education programs and firefighter training programs.

DCA offers a wide range of programs and services, including energy assistance, housing vouchers, affordable housing production, fire and building safety, community planning and development, local government management and finance, disaster recovery and mitigation, and information privacy.

For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/ or follow the Department on social media: