November 06, 2025
Before Spl/Sgt. Jeff Hoyt was a cop, he was a firefighter.
“I chose a career with a Michigan State Police because the department has a dedicated Fire Investigation Unit. That’s where I wanted to be,” said Spl/Sergeant Hoyt, assigned to the Central Michigan area. “I now have eight years in as a fire investigator and can say I’ve experienced the best of both professions.”
His path to becoming a certified fire investigator started with the basics.
“For many years, we have led a fire investigation training program not only for our members but also firefighters and police officers from other agencies and civilians like engineers,” said D/F/Lt. Trever Slater, who oversees the MSP’s Fire Investigation Unit. “As tactics and technology evolve, we adjust the program to ensure attendees get the best learning experience possible.”
A revamped version of the Fire Investigation I School begins in 2026. It has been refined to focus more on cohort or group learning and there are four training cycles instead of one, which start in the spring and concludes with a capstone week in August.
“We’ve made the curriculum more complex to benefit new investigators,” said D/F/Lieutenant Slater. “Classroom time is coupled with four offsite visits, two at Consumers Energy’s lineman training facility and Flint Gas City, to submerse students into utility distribution systems for electricity and natural gas.”
Fire investigators work on a variety of fires, both accidental and intentional, to determine where the fire started and how, otherwise known as a fire origin and cause analysis. Their work varies widely from examining residential and commercial structures to vehicles and equipment when there is a fire or explosion.
“The goal in the investigation is to get the scene back to how it was pre-fire – as much as possible,” said Spl/Sergeant Hoyt. “We literally dig to remove debris and reconstruct space layouts working from the least to most charred areas. Our goal is to try to give the property owner or victim’s family an answer as to what occurred.”
In addition to the basic training program, MSP fire investigators go through a four-year training and experience phase before becoming certified, a designation obtained through the International Association of Arson Investigators.
The MSP Fire Investigation Unit has 10 investigators geographically assigned throughout the state to work cases by county and assist local fire and police departments.
Space is limited for the 89th Fire Investigation I training. Those interested should email a completed application to MSP-FireTraining@michigan.gov by January 16, 2026.
This course is MCOLES and LARA approved.
