A fire investigation unit (FIU) generally attends fires and incidents where the cause is unknown or thought to be suspicious, and is crewed by specially-trained experts acting in assistance to police investigations.
Until June 2010 Acton and East Ham stations each had two FIUs, while New Cross had three. They have all now been moved to a fire investigation headquarters at Dowgate in the City where they are all able to be mobilised citywide. The vehicles are specially-adapted Volkswagen Transporters.
In addition, Dowgate is also the base of the Brigade's fire investigation dog unit. This unique vehicle is manned by members of the arson response team and can transport one of the Brigade's four specially-trained search dogs.
At the scene of incidents, a fire investigation dog wears specialist protective 'fire wellies' on his or her paws to guard against injuries from broken glass or hot material. The dogs can detect minute quantities of hydrocarbon accelerants within minutes. This procedure would normally take a human fire investigator - using specialist equipment - hours before samples can be taken away for scientific evidence.
Read more about this topic: London Fire Brigade Appliances
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