Thousands of acres have burned in the Hawk Fire, and while firefighters are close to finishing their work on the blaze, investigators are now beginning what could be a much longer process: figuring out how it started and whether anyone could be held responsible.
The first step in a fire investigation is determining the fire’s origin. Reno Fire Marshal John Beck said investigators begin by collecting information from firefighters, witnesses, photos and video to narrow down where the fire first ignited.
“Our initial goal is to get to the origin. We have two main goals of a fire investigation — origin and cause. We want to establish who saw what, whether it’s fire crews, the public, video footage or still photography,” Beck said…