The Durango Fire Protection District has conducted three times as many fire investigations so far this year as it had at the same point in 2023.
That means the department’s new fire marshal, Stephen Rinaldi, has been busy.
Rinaldi began the job Jan. 22, just before his predecessor, Karola Hanks, retired.
He had been on the job six weeks when a young arsonist lit the Fort Lewis College press box at Ray Dennison Memorial Field on fire, before using gasoline and homemade explosives to light a campus police vehicle on fire just 18 hours later.
The incident prompted a multiagency investigation that concluded after a 20-year-old student turned himself in.
“That collaboration with all those different agencies at the same time, parceling out what needs to be done by who – it was just great cooperation among all the investigators,” Rinaldi said.
He oversees a staff of six at DFPD, in an office responsible for enforcing fire code, conducting inspections and investigating what caused fires. The bulk of Rinaldi’s work is done in permitting, plans review and inspections, he said.
As development within the department’s 325-square mile jurisdiction increases, so too has the workload. Rinaldi says he is placing an emphasis on process improvement to try to hasten the administrative work.
The new marshal has worked on committees responsible for developing and revising a number of fire code standards, sits on the board of directors of the International Association of Arson Investigators and has worked across the United States, including in Los Alamos, New Mexico, throughout his 30-plus year career.
Rinaldi left a position as fire marshal in Chelan County, Washington, east of Seattle, to move to Durango.
One of the most difficult aspects of the position, Rinaldi said, is the perception that the marshal is adding a layer of bureaucratic delay to development by enforcing codes.
“Each one of those codes (was) written based on incidences that have occurred and cost individuals their lives,” he said.
Rinaldi is a proponent of what in the fire world are known as the five E’s of community risk reduction: education, engineering, enforcement, emergency response and economic incentive.
He’s placing an emphasis on community outreach and education, especially in relation to newcomers and developers moving to the area.
“It goes back to understanding what their challenges are, but also looking for ways in which we can help to educate them with regards to fire and life safety,” Rinaldi said. “It’s something that … takes time.”
Partnership throughout the community is paramount in that effort.
“I want our division to be seen as a partner with the community – working with business owners, the construction field and developers,” he said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
