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CCAI October 21-24

Fire Investigation Training Seminar

 

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From Out of the Abyss...

This week’s article from the past is titled Incendiary Fires Can Be Spotted and was written by Benjamin Horton, CPCU, who was President of the National Adjuster Traing School in Louisville, Kentucky..  It is taken from the Decembe 1968 Vol. XVI No.5 issue.

Incendiary Fires Can Be Spotted 

In the new issue of NFPA Journal®, President Jim Shannon said the Association will focus on the leading causes of home fires, including cooking. "We also need to continue to push hard for home fire sprinklers. That's still a large priority for NFPA, and we plan to work very aggressively in 2014 on our residential sprinkler initiative," he said.

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From the Danish Journal of Archaeology

Abstract

During excavations of the Viking-age ring fortress Borgring, Denmark, traces of a devastating fire was uncovered. The National Forensic Services of the Danish Police were invited to participate in a novel collaboration, applying contemporary forensic fire investigation to an archaeological site. This paper presents the results and sets a benchmark for future applications. The investigation leads to a revised reconstruction of the fortress and the development of the fire. The application of fire investigation methods, following the Daubert standard criteria, enhance the documentation and analysis of archaeological sites, while archaeological methods show significant potential at modern fire scenes.

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BY VYTO BABRAUSKAS

SHOCK, INJURY, OR DEATH {ELECTROCUTION) from the passage of electric current through a human body has been studied for more than a century. The level of response or injury depends on the magnitude of the current and also on the frequency, whether it is direct current (DC), power line alternating current (AC), or AC voltages of higher frequency. Some typical values are shown in Table 1.1 Children are generally more sensitive than adults; thus, guidelines often assume that a child is the person to be protected. With firefighting, however, this assumption is not reasonable. Furthermore, protection against a startle reaction is the most severe level of protection. A startle reaction is described as one in which a person jumps because of a small shock that does not injure the person. No direct electrical injury occurs because of startling; there is some hazard caused by jumping, but it is remote.

The "inability to let go" of an energized conductor that has been accidentally grabbed can cause pain and injury if the current increases to an injurious level. This is also called "muscle tetanization." Thus. Many safety requirements are based on a safety-factor-reduced value of the let-go current, even though this is quite a conservative stance. Matters are further complicated. Since individuals show variation in their responses and standards, bodies typically pick a very conservative level (often the 0.5 percentile) instead of the 50-percentile value. Physiological effects of electric current, furthermore, depend strongly on frequency. The most dangerous frequencies are the 50- or 60-Herz (Hz) power line frequencies. The human body becomes less sensitive to electric current at high frequencies.2 Dalziel3 has published a useful summary of safety guidance on electric shock.

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CCAI Seminar

October 21-24, 2024

 

Member $495.00 - Non-member $605.00

Click here to register in the CCAI Online Store


 The Embassy Suites Hotel

805 549-0800


Back to Basics: The Fire Tetrahedron

How often have you heard the phrase “back to the basics”? It seems
as though every time you turn around you are being instructed to go
“back to the basics,” whether it’s with our children and their math
homework or it’s in the fire service with establishing a water supply,
advancing a hose line, or conducting ventilation. The “basics” are
those tasks that you need to complete first, and they must be completed
every time.

Coffee Break Training

How often have you heard the phrase “back to the basics”? It seems as though every time you turn around you are being instructed to go “back to the basics,” whether it’s with our children and their math homework or it’s in the fire service with establishing a water supply,advancing a hose line, or conducting ventilation. The “basics” are those tasks that you need to complete first, and they must be completed every time.

Read more... 

White Paper-NHTSA

A Case Study of 214 Fatal Crashes Involving Fire.
Carl L. Ragland
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Hsi-Sheng Hsia
Research and Special Programs Administration
United States
Paper Number 9X-S4-O-08
Carl L. Ragland
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Hsi-Sheng HsiaResearch and Special Programs Administration
United States
Paper Number 9X-S4-O-08

ABSTRACT
A detailed case study of 214 fatal tire related 
crashes was conducted to determine whether the death was 
caused by the fire or blunt trauma. The cases were also 
examined to determine the specific crash conditions which 
caused the fire. This analysis was necessary because none 
of the existing fatal crash databases contained sufficient 
details to determine the impact configuration or the cause 
of death. Two hundred and ninety three (293) fatalities 
occurred in these crashes. Sixty-five (65) ofthese fatalities 
resulted from fire, with 30 of these fatalities from 16 rear 
impacts. The speed of impact was determined in eight of 
the 16 cases which caused these 30 burn fatalities. In these 
eight cases, the average rear impact speed was 54 mph with 
speeds ranging from 50 - 60 mph, at 7 1% overlap (7 1 % of 
the rear vehicle width engaged), and collinear at 6:00 
O’clock. By projecting these cases to the national sample, 
the number of rear impact fire related fatalities may be 
estimated between 94 and 191.

Wildfire Origin and Cause Investigation

Part 1

As the spring fire season approaches, fire investigators across the country will be responding to wildfires to conduct origin and cause investigations. In many jurisdictions, investigators are assigned to a type of investigation that is unfamiliar. During the response, the investigator may be thinking that it is no big deal, having already investigated hundreds of structure fires. How hard can a wildfire be? The answer is simple; you must be trained in wildfire investigation to understand the process.

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Part 2

In Part 2 of “Wildfire Origin and Cause Investigation,” we will continue to discuss the main points for the local fire investigator to focus on when conducting a wildfire investigation. Hopefully, last month’s article was an eyeopener for some local investigators to expand their education. The topics we will cover this month will be fire cause determination and fire cause categories/ignition sources. Investigators should become familiar with NFPA 921 and NWCG Wildfire Origin and Cause Determination Handbook.

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Zero-clearance fireplaces a main source of fires

Chief: Almost one-third of High Desert house fires caused by zero-clearance fireplaces

A Helendale house fire earlier this month that caused $50,000 in damages was the latest in a string of residential blazes to be traced to a zero-clearance fireplace, a County Fire official said.

Battalion Chief Warren Peterson blames zero-clearance fireplaces for roughly 30 percent of house fires responded to by San Bernardino County Fire.

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USDC Pennsylvania Permits Vaporizer Fire Case to Proceed to Trial

In MUTUAL BENEFIT INSURANCE COMPANY v. KAZ, INC.,Civil Action No. 1:12-CV-2108 (Feb. 20, 2014) at http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020140221C81 was a civil action filed by plaintiff Mutual Benefit Insurance Company ("MBIC"), as subrogee of Betty and Allen Miller, alleging strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty against defendant Kaz, Inc. ("Kaz"). MBIC seeks reimbursement of monies paid pursuant to an insurance policy issued to the Millers, whose house was damaged in a fire. MBIC alleged that Kaz designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold a vaporizer that caused the fire. Presently before the court is Kaz's motion in limine to exclude the testimony of one of MBIC's submitted experts, Randolph Marshall of Marshall Forensic, LLC. For the following reasons, the court denied the motion.

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More Articles...

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