William (Bill) J. Dearing, CFI, CFEI, CVFI

Background

Mr. William (Bill) Dearing is an International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) Certified Fire Investigator, a Pro Board Certified Fire Investigator, a National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI) Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator, a NAFI Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator, an Indiana Board of Firefighting Personnel Standards and Education Certified Fire Investigator, a Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office Certified Fire Investigator, and a FAA Certified Remote Pilot. Mr. Dearing is a registered Private Investigator in Indiana and Michigan.

Mr. Dearing served as a Police Officer, Instructor, and Training Officer with the West Lafayette Police Department in Indiana until he retired from that department in 2019. He continued his service career with the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, where he served as a Police Officer, Field Training Officer, Instructor, and Fire and Explosion Investigator, before joining Rimkus in 2026. He has experience in criminal, fire, and fraud investigations. Mr. Dearing has been deployed in natural disaster response teams. He has testified as an expert witness in fire-related cases in both civil and criminal matters.

With his extensive background, he has led investigations into over 300 fire and explosion incidents. These investigations included industrial, commercial, residential, and vehicle matters. Mr. Dearing currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Chapter of IAAI and is a member of the Indiana Fire Investigation Task Force.

As a forensic investigator, he performs scene investigations and analysis of fire and explosion incidents, including scene documentation, collection of evidence, origin and cause determination, circumstances leading to fire ignition, failure analysis, and technical report writing.