Dwayne Davis, a former men’s lacrosse player and 1995 graduate of Pfeiffer College, says that “all fires tell a story.”

Throughout his career as a fire investigator, he has excelled at uncovering the key elements of many fire storylines, specifically origin and cause. As arsonists in Charlotte, N.C. and elsewhere have learned, he’s become adept at leading complex investigations, preparing comprehensive reports, and providing reliable testimony at deposition and trial.

Davis, who is based in Stanly County, N.C., ably explains the essentials of how to conduct a fire investigation. Noting that fires generally go “up and out,” he works to find out where a fire has started by observing from the exterior where it has “ventilated” or come out of a structure. Also, after entering a building’s interior, he moves from where the least damage is to where the most is because a fire’s origin is usually where the damage is greatest.

Once the area of origin has been determined, he looks for all potential ignition sources in that area to help determine how and why the fire started. If all of the accidental sources of ignition have been ruled out and there is other evidence and information obtained, then he may determine the fire was incendiary, or intentionally ignited. There are times that fires are ruled as undetermined — which means there may not be enough information or supporting evidence to scientifically determine the exact cause.

“If somebody has used an ignitable liquid to accelerate the fire, we may see that there’s more damage in a part of the house away from where the fire actually started just because it has accelerated,” Davis said. “That’s one reason that determining the cause of a fire can be so challenging.”

Davis can boast a remarkably varied career in fire service fields. He is now a fire investigator in the N.C. Office of State Fire Marshal’s Fire Investigation Unit. Before that, he spent more than 17 years as a certified fire investigator with the Charlotte Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Task Force. That unit sometimes cleared 50 percent or more of the arson cases it investigated; the national average at the time was around 18 percent, which the unit routinely doubled.

Davis has also served as a fire consultant for YA Group, an international professional services organization, and he has held Assistant Fire Marshal posts in Stanly County and in Harrisburg, N.C. Davis’ firefighting career was launched when he became a firefighter/EMT in Albemarle, N.C.

Davis didn’t originally envision that his working life would go in these directions. He came to Pfeiffer College from Churchton, MD (near Annapolis) as a prized recruit on the men’s lacrosse team coached by Jim Fritz. A star at the attack position, he set several records, including All-Time Career Goals (212) and All-Time Career Points (275). In 2006, he was inducted into the Pfeiffer University Sports Hall of Fame.

He eventually parlayed the B.S. degree in Physical Education Teaching and Coaching that he earned at Pfeiffer into a teaching stint in the Stanly County schools. After a few years, he set his sights on joining what he called the “family business” of firefighting and related fields — which has included his dad, grandfather, uncles and cousins.

“I guess it’s in my blood and it pulled me back,” Davis said. While many aspects of his study of physical education prepared Davis for the work he would do after he stopped teaching children, his experience on the lacrosse field also reinforced the importance of teamwork in the cases he took on as a fire investigator. This was particularly the case in Charlotte, where a task force strategy meant he had to work effectively with a group that included everyone from SBI agents to arson detectives drawn from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Davis, who’d played team sports since kindergarten before attending Pfeiffer, said: “I believe a team concept is very successful when it’s used where it needs to be used.”

Davis, who is about to turn 53, plans to stay in the fire investigation field for as long his body will let him.

“There’s a lot of digging and manual labor involved in it, which is fine,” he said. “I mean that’s part of the job and I enjoy it.”

Away from work, Davis has a lot to keep him busy, along with his wife, Pfeiffer alumna Crystal Barringer Davis ’95, who taught mostly kindergarten in Stanly County’s schools before retiring in 2024. Both of their two children — son Carson and daughter Halee — have recently had their own children  with whom Davis enjoys spending time. He also notes with pride that Carson has entered the family business as a career firefighter in Concord, N.C.

And Davis will continue to play a leadership role in the Pfeiffer Men’s Lacrosse Alumni Chapter, which aims to generate former players’ support of Pfeiffer’s lacrosse team, as spectators and donors. “I would not be where I am today without the opportunities that playing lacrosse and Pfeiffer have provided for me,” he said. “That’s why being part of the chapter is so important to me. By supporting the school and the lacrosse program, I’m helping these young men find and take advantage of the opportunities that may help them become successful in their lives and careers.”