Lester Holt

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which offers training to law enforcement around the country, they say that arsons can be notoriously difficult to prove.

Why is that?

I was going to ask you, that seems like a conflict that you're there to put out the fire, save lives.

At the same time, you may be inadvertently destroying critical evidence.

You've trained hundreds of firefighters to investigate fires.

What does a typical arson investigation look like?

How does it unfold?

We mentioned the case of Paul Zumott up top in this conversation.

He's the California man convicted of murder and arson.

A first responder testified at his trial that he could smell the presence of an accelerant the day after the fire and that his accelerant-sniffing dog, yes, there is such a thing, also marked it.

So how important is it, an observation like that, to your analysis in a typical fire?

Is there any new tool or method that you guys are impressed by?

Well, Scott, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us and our audience.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly.

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