Building	Burning	Learning

A record breaking crowd of fire investigators converged on San Luis Obispo for training by some of the best instructors in the nation.  Dr. John DeHaan and Dr. Dave Icove presented the first half of the class on fire scene reconstruction; following the text book that they co-authored.  Retired ATF Agent, Steve Carman, presented the second half of the seminar on fire dynamics specializing in flashover as related to elevated fires.  Kirk McKinzie exposed the students the latest in laser technology for documenting a fire scene.

Click on the captions below the pictures above to see a series of photographs depicting the building, burning and training resulting from the seminar.

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District

Press Release

Late on Friday April 6^th, 62 year old Walnut Creek resident Brent Robert Kastroff was
arrested by Contra Costa County Fire District Investigators and the Walnut Creek Police Department at his home in the community of Rossmoor.

In January of this year, Fire Investigators received information about a small fire that occurred on private property on Vista Del Valle in Lafayette.  The property is a large parcel that contains 3 homes, but the majority of the 90 acres is grass covered land that even when maintained can still pose a wildfire threat to nearby homes and residents due to it’s size and topography. The investigation lead to the discovery of a previously unreported fire in May of 2011 in the same area; however there were no leads in either incident.

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Contra Costa County Fire Protection District

Press Release

Concord resident, Steven Wright 42 years old was arrested yesterday by Contra Costa Co. Fire investigators for burglary.

Last July a person was seen climbing over the fence of the Fire District’s training center at 2945 Treat Blvd. in Concord.  The unknown suspect left behind items he allegedly stole from the training center and fled.   A witness saw the suspect flee but was not able to identify him to Concord PD.

Earlier this month, Fire District personnel that work at the training center which includes an apparatus shop and supply division noticed small tools and other equipment missing.  The Fire Investigation Unit was notified and Investigators conducted a crime prevention survey of the property and the surrounding neighborhood in an effort to identify the missing items and areas that may have invited criminal activity.

Through various investigative techniques, Investigators identified a suspect taking items from the property during early morning hours.  On March 21^st a follow up criminal investigation was opened by District Investigator Vic Massenkoff which subsequently identified Wright as the apparent suspect in the theft of Fire District Equipment.  Investigator Massenkoff worked with Concord PD Detectives and Wright was also identified as the suspect in the July case as well.  A felony arrest warrant for Wright was obtained by CPD Detectives.

On March 28^th, while conducting a follow up investigation, Fire District Investigators located and arrested Wright with the assistance of CPD Officers.  Wright was taken into custody without incident.

Wright was booked into the County Jail by CPD pursuant to the arrest warrant.

It is suspected that Wright stole numerous items including tools and firefighting equipment from the Fire District Training Facility over a long period of time.  If anyone knows Wright and knows of the whereabouts of any of the equipment or tools please contact the Fire Investigation Unit at 925-942-9140 or Concord PD at 925-671-3030.