City of Fort Worth
Members of the Fort Worth Arson/Bomb Unit.
By all accounts, Fort Worth’s Arson/Bomb Unit isn’t built for fanfare. They work in the aftermath — sifting through scorched ruins, tracking accelerants, and piecing together crimes that burn fast and hide well. But this May, the quiet professionals lit up the national scene, earning two top honors that underscore a simple truth: in Fort Worth, fire gets fought with facts, and arsonists don’t run far.
At the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) Annual Training Conference in New Jersey, the unit received the prestigious Guy E. “Sandy” Burnette Award for Outstanding Accomplishment — a recognition reserved for agencies leading the way with innovative programs and real-world results in arson and explosive investigations. It’s one of the highest honors in the field.
Named after a towering figure in fire investigation history, the Burnette Award isn’t handed out lightly. In Fort Worth’s case, the numbers spoke volumes. Over the past year, the unit filed 90 criminal cases with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, according to the City’s website.
Back here in Texas, the accolades kept coming. In March, the team took home the Jack Sneed Award at the Texas IAAI Conference for the second year in a row. The Sneed, named after another fire investigation legend, is Texas’s highest nod to excellence in arson work. Winning it once is tough. Winning it back-to-back? That puts Fort Worth’s crew in rare company.
For the unit’s members, the work is painstaking and personal. Every investigation is a puzzle of charred remnants and chemical traces. Every solved case is a message — that fire, when criminally set, won’t go unchecked. In Fort Worth, someone’s always watching the smoke.
“This is the wrong city to make a fire and get away,” reads a line from the city’s announcement. That’s not a warning. It’s a statement of fact, backed by scientific evidence and a steadfast belief in justice.
These honors came during National Arson Awareness Week, observed from May 4 to 10, a fitting moment to spotlight the professionals who work in the ashes, so others don’t have to. With each case closed, Fort Worth’s Arson/Bomb Unit reminds the rest of the country of what accountability looks like — methodical, relentless, and lit with purpose.
