Brad Batka

Experience

My experience at some of the busiest fire companies in the City has afforded me substantial understanding of, hands-on work with, and extensive personal observation of fire behavior, as well as fire's effects on the structure, rooms, interior and contents involved. This experience was obtained in differing building construction, as well as different seasonal ambient conditions.

My considerable combination of experience and education affords me a unique perspective of the fire service, stressing the needs of the citizens as well as the fire department members. Since rejoining the Office of Fire Investigation as a lieutenant, I have been tasked with training multiple members of the unit across all shifts. As Assistant Commanding Fire Marshal, I am tasked with critical analysis and peer review of reports and investigator practices, as well as coordination of training.

While in OFI, my duties included the investigation and documentation of fire incidents in the City of Chicago. I have been the sole or lead investigator of over 1,100 investigations, while assisting with, contributing to or supervising over 1,200 more — including origin & cause investigations, scene documentation and photography, diagramming and sketching, interviewing, crime scene preservation, evidence collection, oral and written reports, and coordination of multi-agency responses.

Inter-agency work includes cooperative efforts with the Chicago Police Bomb & Arson unit, the Illinois State Fire Marshal K-9 unit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the Cook County State's Attorney. I have years of experience as lead investigator and coordinator on large-scale investigations spanning multiple days and involving multi-million dollar losses.