PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota's deputy fire marshal has earned an international accreditation.

Cliff Dahl is now a certified fire investigator from the International Association of Arson Investigators. He's stationed in Rapid City.

Dahl has been with the State Fire Marshal's Office for nine years. With the accreditation, he becomes only the third certified fire investigator in South Dakota.

State Fire Marshal Paul Merriman says the field of fire investigation is constantly changing, and Dahl has taken steps to keep abreast of those changes. Merriman says it takes a great deal of time and work just to qualify to take the testing for the accreditation.

The International Association of Arson Investigators describes the CFI program as "a standard measure of an individual's competence in all phases of fire investigation."

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