The govt agency knows he is violating the order but they have not received "proof" from a dated photograph, sign-in sheet, etc. Several different investigators have turned him in, but he knows this so he avoids these situations as much as possible.

"I know many of public fire investigators that are not CFI’s or CFEI’s and they state openly they disagree with 921. Their department restricts the taking of photographs, and they are not allowed to interview witnesses. I know this sounds impossible, but they do exist. Does this mean this person cannot accurately investigate a fire? If one were to except this logic, then before there was 921, CFEI’s and CFI’s there were no valid investigations conducted."

As a professional, I respectfully disagree with your statement. Investigating the incident is one thing, but knowing what you are looking at and coming up with a logical and scientific basis for their conclusions is something completely different. This is how people wrongfully end up in prison, and you might as well use a Ouji board, you may get the same determination. Yes, a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully you get my point.

My point was that if one does not interview witnesses, then how can you put the fire into context? I can not tell you the number of times has a fire's cause has been listed on a report only to find that a witness to the incident places the fire elsewhere initially and has both photographs and video to prove it. It reminds me of a favorite quotation from an Engineer here in Oregon who stated (paraphrasing here) that Witness statements are not important to determining the cause or origin of a fire, rather the evidence speaks volumes unto itself.

As to the other, "...but I ask that all of us take a step back before we make any suggestions that can affect a person livelihood. It is hard to know beyond a doubt that the person knew his conclusion was wrong and continued to peruse an agenda to do harm to his fellow man." In my case, the person has been in the business a long time and did know better.

Investigators are being required to sign written contracts stating you will conduct your investigations in accordance with NFPA 921, provide a minimum $2 million USD E&O Insurance Policy, and go through background checks just to be on the approved lists for these insurance companies. I have been individually informed from some close friend contacts at the national level that in some cases, they are looking into these aspects for the insurance companies to recoup losses when the investigator is negligent in his/her duties and breaches the written contract. Obviously, this won't be an issue on a fire of $10k or $50k, but may very well be worth their time and an option for the insurance carrier when the loss is larger than $100k.

Lets face it folks, we private investigation agencies are now yet another potential "Deep Pocket" when it comes to an attorney trying to recover monies from a fire loss.