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Phase II Hands-On Fire Arson Investigation

Length of Seminar: 5 Days
Instructor: Multiple

Course Objectives:

The purpose of this course is to provide the attendees with a hands-on in-depth course of study, covering investigative techniques used to properly investigate, and conduct a proper fire scene examination.

Upon Completion:

Conducting a Fire Scene Examination: The attendee will be able to successfully conduct a fire scene examination using a systematic approach and a scientific method.

Fire Behavior: The attendee will have an understanding of fire behavior during a fire event.

Fire Patterns: The attendee will have an understanding of the most commonly seen fire patterns during an examining and while documenting the scene.

Origin and Cause Determination: The attendee will be exposed to the latest most up to date techniques being used in fire investigation examinations today.

Determining Accidental Causes: The attendee will receive examples of the many accidental causes that may be encountered in his/her investigations.

Evidence Collection: We will discuss cross contamination, chain of custody, types of evidence to collect, spoliation of evidence, evidence collection, comparison samples, trace evidence, securing the evidence, and alteration of the fire scene.

Recording the Scene: The attendee will be able to document the fire scene in a systematic manner while photographing, conducting debris layering, preserving and diagramming the scene and how to determine , test and select a final hypothesis.

Hands-On Examination: The attendee will be able to successfully conduct a hands—on investigation using a systematic approach and a scientific method while examining and documenting the fire scene. (we will provide all of the necessary cameras, clipboards, evidence collection tools etc).

Incendiary Fires: We will cover the potential incendiary types of fires the investigator is likely to encounter during their examinations.

Electrical and Appliance Fires: The attendee will receive information that will be beneficial when examining these types of fires. Some of the topics will include failure modes, current overloads, arc beading, collection or preservation of this type of evidence. We will discuss arc mapping/tracking.

Legal: In this segment the attendees will be exposed to emerging case laws, report preparation ,courtroom preparation, trial/deposition notebooks, (Rule 26, Federal Rules of Evidence), ASTM Standards that apply to the fire service, preparation for a Daubert challenge.

Group Presentations: Time permitting we will have as many groups as possible present their findings while they conducted their examinations.