Cory began his firefighting career as a volunteer firefighter in 2001, he began his career as a professional firefighter with the Ottumwa Fire Department in 2003. After attending the State Fire Marshal’s Fire Investigation Class in 2008 he began actively conducting origin and cause investigations. Cory was promoted to Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal in 2012 and held that position until leaving the public sector in May of 2023. Throughout his career as a public sector investigator, he has testified in multiple criminal trials and multiple depositions leading to convictions in arson cases. Cory is a fulltime fire and explosion investigator for IFIC and a volunteer fire fighter at his local department.

Cory has earned an associate’s degree in Fire Science and a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration/Fire Investigation from Columbia Southern University. He has attended the National Fire Academies Basic Fire Investigation, Courtroom Testimony and Forensic Evidence Collection courses and the Advanced Origin and Cause Courtroom Testimony course offered by the ATF. He was a sworn Peace Officer having completed the 255th Basic Academy of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in 2014. In his 20+ years as a firefighter he has built a vast knowledge base of fire behavior and the effects of fire suppression.

Cory is licensed as a private investigator in Iowa and Missouri as well as licensed as a Part 107 Remote Pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Cory is a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI), and the Iowa Chapter of the IAAI.