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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

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 The Embassy Suites Hotel

805 549-0800


A Study of Wildland Fire Direction Indicator Reliability Following Two Experimental Fires

White Paper

Study by: Albert Simeoni, Zachary C. Owens, Erik W. Christiansen, Abid KemalExponent, Inc. USAMichael Gallagher, Kenneth L. Clark, Nicholas SkowronskiNorthern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, USAEric V. Mueller, Jan C. Thomas, Simon Santamaria, Rory M. HaddenSchool of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK

Albert Simeoni, Zachary C. Owens, Erik W. Christiansen, Abid Kemal
Exponent, Inc. USA
Michael Gallagher, Kenneth L. Clark, Nicholas Skowronski
Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, USA
Eric V. Mueller, Jan C. Thomas, Simon Santamaria, Rory M. Hadden
School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK

ABSTRACT

Two experimental fires, with contrasting intensities, were conducted in March 2016, in the Pinelands National Reserve (PNR) of New Jersey, United States in order to provide a preliminary assessment of the reliability of the fire direction indicators used in wildland fire investigation.  The experiments were part of a larger project intended to measure firebrand production in a forested ecosystem.  As part of this project, fire behavior, as well as the environmental and fuel conditions were also measured.  Two burn parcels, covering an area of approximately 30 hectares each, were ignited from unimproved forest roads which delimited them.  The forest canopy was comprised primarily of pitch pine with intermittent oaks.  The understory contained a mixed shrub layer of huckleberry, blueberry, and scrub oaks. In order to explore a wide range of indicators, objects such as bottles, cans and small fence elements were planted in the burn area, and photographed before and after the fire.  To obtain an accurate measure of pre- and post-fire fuel properties, fuel load, fuel bulk density, and fuel moisture content were also measured. In addition, environmental data (wind velocity and direction, air temperature and humidity) were recorded.  The fire behavior can be reconstructed using measurements of fire rate of spread, fire front temperatures, fire front geometry, and heat fluxes.  Video and infrared cameras were used to document the general fire behavior in selected locations.  This paper represents the first step in the analysis of the fire indicators and focuses on the more intense of the two burns and on the appearance of the macro- and microscale fire pattern indicators.  A majority of the indicators were assessed, although the configuration of the burn parcels, the ignition technique, and precipitation immediately following the fires limited a full study.  The results show that some fire direction indicators are highly dependent on local fire conditions and fire behavior and may be in contradiction with the general spread of the fire.  Overall, this study demonstrates that fire pattern indicators are a useful tool but must be interpreted in the frame of a general analysis of the fire, combined with a good understanding of fire behavior and fire dynamics.

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