Henrico deputy chief outlines long forensic work after two July fires

Deputy Chief Scott Sutton described how the fire marshal's office carried the Darby House and SwimRVA investigations from initial response to detailed forensic work.

"This investigation remains active...we still have a couple of additional interviews to complete before we're prepared to definitively state the cause of the fire," Sutton said about the Darby House blaze, and later summarized SwimRVA: "Ultimately, after completing that process, we were able to definitively classify the SwimRVA fire as accidental and identify the electrical failure or event within the building that was the cause." The presentation emphasized that origin-and-cause determinations rest on multiple lines of evidence — scene exams, surveillance, lab results and interviews — and that the office prioritizes accuracy over speed.

Sutton told the board investigators returned to Darby House multiple times, executed a search warrant for an apartment, processed evidence and conducted about a dozen interviews. For SwimRVA, he said the primary investigator logged roughly 15 hours on scene and the team worked through digital evidence requests that required search warrants and coordination with third parties. County officials and board members praised the department's continuity in assisting displaced residents and painstaking evidence preservation.