Hearing a buzz from the pager clipped to his belt, Larry Luckham pulls off his button-down Hawaiian shirt to reveal a San Rafael Fire Department T-shirt he’s wearing underneath. He’s always prepared.
Quickly, Luckham slides into his fire gear, slips on his boots and hops into his truck, which is equipped with emergency lights and radios along with cameras and other investigation tools. Within minutes, he’s driving toward a house burning on Marina Court Drive. He can see flames as he approaches.
On site, Luckham takes photographs and careful notes — a process he’s undergone dozens of times while working as the San Rafael Fire Department’s volunteer photographer and fire investigator. But the drill feels different during this house fire in early March; it’s the last fire Luckham will investigate.