CFITrainer.Net Podcast

The IAAI and CFITrainer.Net present these podcasts with a focus on issues relating to fire investigation. With expertise from around the world, the International Association of Arson Investigators produces these podcasts to bring more information and electronic media to fire investigators looking for training, education and general information about fire investigation. Topics include recent technologies, issues in the news, training opportunities, changes in laws and standards and any other topic that might be of interest to a fire investigator or industry professional affected by fire. Information is presented using a combination of original stories and interviews with scientists, leaders in fire investigation from the fire service and the law enforcement community.

    <p>Welcome to IAAI’s August 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast.  This month, we’ll take a closer look at the dangerous combination of summer heat and oily rags, we’ll examine another side of the rise in vacant home fires, and preview research underway on Australia’s devastating "Black Saturday" brush fires.  We’ll also cover the latest in IAAI news.</p>
    <p>A recent fire in the UK has drawn attention to oily rags as a fire cause.  A garage was destroyed by a fire traced to spontaneous combustion of towels soaked with teak oil that the property owner had used to treat their wood floor.  He stored the used towels in the garage and, about 8 hours later, they spontaneously combusted.</p>
    <p>This topic is very timely.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the dog days of summer are upon us.  In many places, summer means more people outside, working on the yard, the house, their cars, and outdoor furniture and structures.  The nice weather provides an opportunity to tackle outdoor maintenance and renovation chores that often use oil applied with rags, including linseed oil, teak oil, stains, and paint thinners.  These used oily rags, if improperly stored or disposed of, can self-heat and spontaneously combust.  Self-heating can be exacerbated by high summer temperatures that heat up non-air conditioned garages and sheds, as well as by high summer humidity that prevents rags from drying quickly. </p>
    <p>To learn more about the process of spontaneous combustion of oily rags, we’re joined by David Howitt, Professor of Materials Science at UC Davis College of Engineering.  Thanks for joining us David.</p>
    <p>DAVID HOWITT: Oh, you’re very welcome.</p>
    <p>INTERVIEWER: Under what conditions can this type of spontaneous combustion take place?</p>
    <p>DAVID HOWITT: Well typically you need vegetable oils or actually fish oils, although people don’t use fish oil very much.  But essentially linseed oil or tung oil, which are the two most common vegetable oils.  Both actually do this quite readily at ambient temperatures.  I think when they’re talking about teak oil, they’re really just talking about an oil that’s appropriate for teak wood.  Teak wood is typically fairly hard, and it’s not a very porous wood, and so it relies essentially on something like a linseed oil based stain to give you some surface color and also to actually form a polymerizing film on the surface.  Linseed oil is essentially a natural type of varnish.  And these generic paints are becoming more and more popular now.  They were very popular years and years ago, but they’re becoming more popular because the mineral spirits and the thinners that you need to use for these paints actually are less dangerous to the environment in terms of creating smog and so on.  And so what has happened is a lot of paint manufacturers in recent years have started replacing some of the more synthetic type varnishes with this type of finish, and so we’re seeing them more and more appearing in wood stains and deck stains and even some kinds of paint.</p>
    <p>The problem is a fairly simple one and that is that natural vegetable materials have a tendency to decompose, and they do so, and usually it’s quite a harmless process.  I mean, it’s just composting vegetation, this sort of thing, the way that things naturally break up, but under some circumstances, and it’s especially visible in these kinds of spontaneous ignition fires, what you have is these vegetable oils, instead of just slowly releasing the heat in the normal way, when you add them to a cotton rag, what they can do is they can react a great deal faster, and so the process is accelerated.  The other factor that comes into play is that the rags themselves are very good thermal insulators, and so if you wipe these stains with these rags and then you simply bundle the rags up after use and put them in something like a cardboard box, what will happen is the heat will build up inside the rags and actually cause them to catch fire from the inside.  It’s indeed a smoldering combustion typically, rather than a flaming combustion, and so it builds up a great deal of heat, and that heat is capable of simply setting the material on fire on its own.  So, of course, you don’t need a match or something else to set alight, and in this way these materials can be a very serious hazard because they’re a very strong ignition source in the sense that they get very hot for quite a long time.  So they can set fire to your surrounding combustibles and set them aflame, and of course, that’s when you have these house fires that you were talking, in fact, you were saying earlier about one that had been reported in England recently and had been attributed to this sort of thing.</p>
    <p>INTERVIEWER: What evidence can be left behind that a fire investigator should recognize?</p>
    <p>DAVID HOWITT: There’s a couple of little things that the first investigator should be aware of, and it’s an odd effect, and I studied it a little bit myself just with some laboratory experiments, and that is that the process that gives rise to the heating, the chemical reactions actually tend to occur right around room temperature.  It’s somewhere about 20 degrees centigrade is the cutoff value.  So we’re talking about something close to about 70 degrees, 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the temperature is fairly low and you mix these rags or you do the staining at these kind of temperatures, you often don’t have a problem.  It’s when the temperature gets just a few degrees higher than that and that’s when the reaction can start and it essentially is a bit like a snowball reaction.  And so the temperatures are quite important in determining certainly for the first investigator whether or not it’s a likely occurrence.</p>
    <p>The other thing, of course, that’s important is determining exactly what kind of oils were in the paint because it’s only vegetable oils that do this thing.  The petroleum base and the synthetic oils don’t actually do this.  So, for example, you couldn’t get this effect with soaking, for example, motor oil in rags, it wouldn’t heat up at all.  It’s just the vegetable oils.  But it’s very much a hit and miss process.  If the temperature is 23, 24 degrees centigrade, then it becomes much, much more likely that you’re going to get a reaction than if you were at 21 or 20 degrees.  Just those few degrees difference, and that’s what made the determination of this effect a little bit of a mystery for people because when you do the experiments, if you’re not very careful with the temperatures, you can have it not happen or you can have it happen.  The big thing is that the ignition source is very strong, and so you’re often, if, for example, a cardboard box was left on a wooden floor, you might expect actually the wooden floor to be burned through locally.  You would expect to find deep burn marks where the reaction occurred.  That will be the first thing.</p>
    <p>Unfortunately for the fire investigator the spontaneous ignition process is so thorough that it rarely leaves any evidence behind, but it does need something known as rigid char to form, and if in fact the ignition source hasn’t been disturbed in the process of the first investigation, you can often detect this rigid char simply because you’ll find, as I said, a bundle of rags that if it’s undisturbed will simply fall apart when you touch it.  This rigid char is necessary because it’s the thing that controls the flow of air to the interior of the rags, and in doing so it enables the reaction to occur.  If you lay these rags out flat or if you hang them on a washing line, for example, they won’t heat up simply because the heat is able to escape into the air, and if you have a rapid air flow through the rag pile the same sort of thing will happen.  So the rigid char itself, when it forms, allows the air to get slowly into the interior of the pile and that’s what essentially stimulates the reaction, and you can often see that in the remnants simply because obviously you’ve had a burning on an interior and not the exterior and the remnants left can sometimes clue you in.</p>
    <p>There are also chemical tests you can do on the residues that you find because most of these paints and stains contain, they’re actually methyl soaps.  Soaps typically of zirconium and manganese and those elements are fairly readily detectable by simply doing an ICP type analysis.  And so if you have some of the residues from what you think is a spontaneous condition, you can actually do chemical tests to determine the presence of, they’re actually referred to as metallic dryers because they’re not indigenous, typically you won’t find them elsewhere, and so if you find things like cobalt or manganese or zirconium present, then that’s a clue that you may have had this sort of activity going on.  People sometimes try and do tests for the oils themselves, but those are typically not very successful because the oils invariable decompose and they’re also very difficult to spot. </p>
    <p>INTERVIEWER: What questions should a fire investigator ask witnesses to determine if spontaneous combustion of this type might have been the cause of the fire?</p>
    <p>DAVID HOWITT: What you typically see with these kinds of ignitions is that it takes typically four to six hours for the ignition source itself to heat up to a sufficient temperature.  And then it can often take an hour or so after that before it actually bursts into flame, and so this period of six to eight hours is usually the time that you can expect from the moment essentially that the rags are bundled up into a pile, to the time that the fire is actually reported.  So if the first investigator can get, certainly from whoever was doing painting or staining, a fairly good description of what they did, when they finished their work, the circumstances and so on, even whether it felt warm, whether it was cool, whether they were doing it inside or outside, this sort of thing, and then follow through that scenario and see if they can pinpoint the time at which they think the rags would have begun to self-heat.  And then as I said, typically you can predict that six to eight hours after that you should have had the fire reported.</p>
    <p>It’s also, of course, important to know what the people were doing in terms of how they were applying the stain because another thing that’s actually a common misconception with these sorts of fires is that it’s not actually a rag that’s sodden in stain that is the danger, it’s the one that only has a small amount of stain in it.  In fact, the optimum mixture is about the same weight of rag as it is to stain, and when you have that situation, the rags actually feel fairly dry.  And so, there’s, of course, the temptation to keep those rags because you could, you know, feasibly use them again if they dried out a little bit, and those are the rags that are the most dangerous and the most likely to spontaneously ignite.  So, yes, a detailed description of what exactly went on, what happened and the timing can be very useful in predicting whether actually such an ignition was likely. </p>
    <p>INTERVIEWER: Thanks again David.  We appreciate your expertise.  Now, let’s turn our attention to two current news stories.</p>
    <p>A recent AP article examined another side of the rise in vacant home fires.  In previous podcasts, we’ve talked about the incentive for property owners affected by the recession to set fire to their buildings for insurance settlements and how this has contributed to the rise in arson for profit.  However, there is another side to the rise in vacant building fires: accidental fires resulting from the actions of squatters living in vacant, abandoned, or foreclosed and bank-owned homes.</p>
    <p>According to the Census Bureau, a staggering 19 million homes now stand vacant, many as a result of the foreclosure crisis and economic downturn.  People who have lost their own homes are seeking refuge in vacant houses, which usually have no electricity or cooking and heating fuel.  Therefore, the squatters engage in unsafe cooking, heating, and electricity procurement practices.  These unsafe practices raise the risk of accidental fire.</p>
    <p>The Associated Press profiled one community, in Flint, MI, where this reality turned into tragedy.  In Flint, more than 1,000 homes sit abandoned, awaiting demolition.  One of those homes was 1430 Jane Avenue.  The home was abandoned by the owner and in tax foreclosure.  But, it wasn’t unoccupied.  Gordon Yoesting, a well-known and well-liked local who had grown up on Jane Avenue, returned to his old neighborhood having survived a vicious criminal beating.  But he was never the same.  He got by on itinerant jobs and disability, living in cheap apartments.  Until he got an idea about 1430 Jane Avenue.  Yoesting asked the owner, who had given up on the property as it went through the tax foreclosure process, if he could take care of the place.  The owner gave him a set of keys.  Yoesting set about tidying the mess and rigging up a way to get water and electricity.  Yoesting told neighbors that he was going to buy the place; the local Land Bank who controlled the property told him he was being evicted.  Shortly thereafter, tipped off by someone, the electric company shut off the illegal service.  A few days later, Yoesting had lit some candles for light as he worked on a lawn mower in the living room.  How the fire actually started isn’t clear, but by the next morning, the house was ablaze and Gordon Yoesting was dead inside.  All fire investigators should be aware to possibilities like squatters when investigating abandoned building fires and alert for evidence of human habitation.</p>
    <p>Illegal occupants aren’t the only victims of these vacant building fires.  Firefighters, who are taught to attack fire vigorously, are also in increased danger.  After a Detroit firefighter was killed when fighting an intentional fire in an abandoned home, the city began to look differently at these abandoned building fires.  More municipalities followed suit, implementing new policies to safeguard firefighters &mdash; if the building is vacant and no one appears to be inside, fire companies are instructed to attack the fire only from the exterior.  This new approach has ramifications for evidence survival, and thus investigative outcomes.  In addition, the new policies decrease the chance of finding victims that no one knew were inside.</p>
    <p>Our second news item is an alert about research underway in Australia to examine what happened in the "Black Saturday" brushfires that ravaged the state of Victoria in February 2009.  As reported by ABCNews in Australia, one aspect of this research looks at human behavior during the fires.  Preliminary, anecdotal findings in Marysville indicate that half of the people who died in their homes were found sheltering in a bathroom, even though bathrooms are not advised as sheltering places because they typically have no windows.  The full report is due in mid-August.</p>
    <p>Finally, we close with news from IAAI.  Following up on our previous vacant buildings story, IAAI offers an Abandoned Building Project Tool Box that assists public officials in dealing with vacant and abandoned buildings, ensuring the safety of fire suppression personnel who respond to vacant and abandoned building fires, and reducing the incidence of incendiary fires involving these properties.  The package can be purchased by contacting the IAAI office at 1-800-468-4224.</p>
    <p>That concludes this IAAI CFITrainer.Net podcast.  We’ll see you again next month.</p>
    <p></p>
2024
Discussing Mentorship from Both the Mentor and Mentee Perspectives with Steve Avato - We discuss mentorship, from both the mentor and mentee perspectives, with Steve Avato, retired ATF Supervisory Special Agent CFI and Fire Marshal Captain with the Loudoun County Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office.
A CONVERSATION WITH SPECIAL AGENT ADAM ST. JOHN AND CAPTAIN CRAIG MATTHEWS - Today, we’re taking a deep dive into fires where the ignition was associated with CSST — that’s corrugated stainless steel tubing.
Laboratory Analysis of Fatty Acids, Oils, and Alcohols with Laurel Mason and Doug Byron - Today, we’re talking about using a lab in your investigations. More specifically, we are going to talk to two experienced forensic scientists about analysis of fatty acids, oils, and alcohols.
The Role of Metallurgical and Materials Science in Fire Origin and Cause Determination. - We’ve got something new and pretty interesting for you today — a closer look at the role of metallurgical and materials science in fire origin and cause determination. Our guide into this world is Larry Hanke.
What's new at the National Fire Academy - A conversation with Kevin Oliver on what’s new at the National Fire Academy.
2022 IAAI Investigator of the Year - Today we're talking with Fire Arson Investigator Nicole Brewer of Portland Fire and Rescue in Oregon. Investigator Brewer was named the IAAI Investigator of the Year in 2022
Multi Unit Multi Fatality Fires - This month, we’re tackling a tough topic on the CFITrainer.Net podcast.
NFPA 1321 is coming in 2023. Are you ready? December 2022 - In 2023, NFPA will release a new standard, NFPA 1321: Standard for Fire Investigation Units. We preview this standard on the newest episode of the CFITrainer.Net podcast.
Spoliation: What You Don't Know Can Jeopardize Your Investigation November 2022 - Attorney Chris Konzelmann Discusses Lessons Learned from Recent Litigation
The Internet of Things: September 2022 - Welcome to the CFITrainer.Net podcast. Today, we're talking about the Internet of Things. You're going to learn what that is and why it's an important investigative tool you might not be using.
News Roundup: July 2022 - This month on a new episode of the CFITrainer.Net podcast, we’re talking about fascinating news that’s crossed our feed recently.
June 2022 - On this month’s CFITrainer.Net podcast, we're going to get into an issue that seems to be increasing in regularity, and that's warehouse fires.
Fire Investigator Health and Safety: March 2022 - This month on a new episode of the CFITrainer.Net podcast, Dr. Gavin Horn, Research Engineer at UL's Fire Safety Research Institute, and Jeff Pauley, Chair of the IAAI’s Health & Safety Committee, discuss the latest research on fire investigator health and safety.
NFPA 1321: New NFPA Standard Affecting Fire Investigation Units: January 2022 - On this month’s CFITrainer.Net podcast, we talk with Randy Watson, chair of the technical committee for NFPA 1321: Standard for Fire Investigation Units.
December 2021 - On this month’s CFITrainer.Net podcast, we look back at 2021 and how CFITrainer.Net evolved to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly changing technology.
October 2021 - Welcome to the CFITrainer.Net Podcast. It's been a while since we've done a news round up so today we're covering some new research and fire investigation cases.
Fire as a Cover for Murders and Gender Reveal Fires: September 2021 - This episode we talk to Texas Ranger Sergeant Drew Pilkington about incendiary fires as a cover for murder and we discuss a tragic quadruple domestic violence homicide.
May 2021 - As part of National Arson Awareness Week, CFITrainer.Net has a new podcast exploring the week's theme, "Arson During Civil Unrest."
December 2020 - On this podcast we talk to Bobby Schaal about the new Fire Investigation for Fire Officer certificate and then we offer a brief update on an investigation in Stowe, Vermont.
August 2020 - This month we talk to a legend in the fire investigation field, Dr. Quintiere, sometimes known as Dr. Q. He has a rich experience in the fire service dating back to the 70’s, and he is working on fire in micro-gravity today.
July 2020 - July '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this new episode of the CFITrainer.Net podcast, Scott Bennett, talks about the fascinating case he and Mark Shockman worked that won them the IAAI Investigator of the Year Award. You won't want to miss our conversation. And, new IAAI President Rick Jones stops by to discuss what he is excited about for IAAI's growth this coming year — there are a lot of innovative and valuable initiatives on the way.
June 2020 - June '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this month's podcast we interview Doug Byron, President and Senior Forensic Chemist from the FAST lab about fats and oils and spontaneous combustion, and how they are involved in fire investigation. After our interview with Doug, we offer some thoughts on your job and the COVID-19 situation.
May 2020 - May '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. Join us this month for a new podcast where we talk briefly about online learning that is available and then we speak with Dr. Peter Mansi, Past President of the IAAI.
April 2020 - April '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month on the Podcast we interview President Barry M. Grimm from the IAAI and talk to Wayne Miller, Author of "Burn Boston Burn -The largest arson case in the history of the country.
March 2020 - March '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month on the Podcast we talk about some resources for COVID, updates from the IAAI and talk with a fire Marshall in New Hampshire about challenges in their region related to Sober Homes.
February 2020 - February '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast follows along with our technology theme. We look at social media’s effect on some fire investigations and then we talk with Mike Parker about his work with social media while at the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
January 2020 - January '20 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast gives you updates on Australia’s wild fires and an investigation and arrest tied to a large New Jersey fire. We also talk with Zach McCune from Rolfe’s Henry about a case study and course that he and Shane Otto will be leading at ITC this year. Zach talks about an arson fraud case and how spoofing and masking technologies were used to frame an innocent mother and perpetuate an arson fraud.
December 2019 - December '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In under ten minutes this podcast offers a review of 2019 milestones and new content and features that you might have missed. We also give you a quick preview of what to expect in 2020.
November 2019 Podcast - November '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we learn about two new technology solutions being studied for fire investigation and then we visit with Lester Rich from the National Fire Academy
October 2019 Podcast - October '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this podcast episode, we’re back for the second part of the CCAI live burn training event — the actual burn and post-fire.
September 2019 Podcast - September '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we travel to San Luis Obispo where we were hosted by the California chapter of the IAAI (CCAI). We had a rare opportunity to experience what it’s like to set up this training and experience a wildland burn in California. There was a lot to learn!
August 2019 Podcast - August '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's CFITrainer.Net podcast is under 15 minutes and offers information about fires in electric vehicles and what you need to know.
May 2019 Podcast - May '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this month's CFITrainer.Net podcast, you'll hear from ATF Special Agent Chad Campanell, who will discuss how ATF can assist state and local fire investigators with training and investigations, ATF resources available to fire investigators, and ATF's support of CFITrainer.Net. Also, we summarize the final report of a multi-fatality fire at a senior living community in Pennsylvania, where ATF cooperated with state and local investigators to reach conclusions.
April 2019 Podcast - April '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. There are two new additions to CFITrainer.Net! A new podcast with Dan Madrzykowski from UL speaking about ventilation and Fire Flow, and a new module called “Fire Flow Analysis”.
March 2019 Podcast - March '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast includes updates from the IAAI related to the election, the upcoming ITC, and a new website specifically about evidence collection. After the updates, you will also hear some news stories related to fire investigation.
February 2019 Podcast - February '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month take 10 mins and hear some fire investigation and IAAI news.
January 2019 Podcast - January '19 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we’re looking back on some of the biggest issues in fire investigation in 2018.
November 2018 Podcast - November '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk with Jeff Pauley from the IAAI’s Health and Safety Committee. Jeff is an IAAI-CFI and the Chairman of the Health and Safety Committee. In this podcast, he talks about ways to reduce exposure to carcinogens related to fire investigation. By listening, you will learn about ways to reduce your risks, learn about new resources that are available to assist you, and research that is coming soon.
October 2018 Podcast - October '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month meet and learn about IAAI’s new Executive Director, Scott Stephens and plans for the future. After that interview, hear some wild stories from the national news related to fire investigation.
September 2018 News Roundup - September '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts.
Short stories related to fire investigation - June '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. Join us for a brief Podcast that includes five minutes of short stories related to fire investigation.
What you need to know about Arson Awareness week - April '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we welcome Tonya Hoover, the Superintendent of the National Fire Academy. Superintendent Hoover came to the NFA with more than 20 years of experience in local and state government, most recently as the California State Fire Marshal.
Growing pot and earning Bitcoin can start fires? - March '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this month’s podcast, hear a story about how the Bitcoin business might be causing fires? What similarities are there between Pot growers and now Bitcoin miners?
Training related to wildland fire investigation - February '18 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast highlights new training related to wildland fire investigation featuring an interview with Paul Way, and this year’s International Training Conference. We also have a pretty wild story before we wrap up. Birds starting fires?
Smart homes and digital data gathering issues - December '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this podcast, we discuss two topics on the technology and forensics cutting edge. Michael Custer of Kilgore Engineering, Inc. and retired Special Agent Tully Kessler share some knowledge and give us a taste of the classes that they will be presenting at ITC 2018.
Discussion with Writer Monica Hesse - September '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this podcast, you will hear some great news related to the IAAI and CFITrainer.Net and then we have an interview with Monica Hesse, the writer of a new book called "American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land."
Discussion with Criminalist- John DeHaan - June '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month on the CFITrainer.Net podcast, we talk to Criminalist, fire investigation expert and Author of "Kirk’s Fire Investigation", John DeHaan.
The Ghost Ship - May '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. For this podcast, we hear from a retired Captain of the Long Beach Fire Department, Pat Wills. Pat has been in the fire service for 37 years. He has been a leader and an investigator, now he is an educator speaking around the country about the importance of code enforcement.
Fast Podcast about ITC! - March '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk to David Bridges about what to expect at ITC and the training you won’t want to miss.
CFITrainer Podcast- A profile with an IAAI-CFI® - February '17 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. Join us this month for our podcast as we interview IAAI member and CFI, Jeff Spaulding from Middletown, Ohio. Jeff talks about his work in both the public and private sector and then he shares an interesting story about how a pacemaker is helping in an investigation.
An interview with Dr. James Quintiere - December '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In a discussion with Dr. James Quintiere, we learn about some of his work in fire sciences, a bit about his research, his opinions related to the World Trade Center investigation and what he thinks is important to fire investigation as a scholarly leader in our field.
Fire Investigation After the Flood Podcast - November '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk to Dan Hebert, an IAAI, CFI about "How Floods affect Fire Investigation."
September 2016 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - September '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk about the recent changes in the FAA's regulations for commercial and public sector use of UAS or "Drones".
August 2016 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - August '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk to Jessica Gotthold about the Seaside Heights fire in NJ from 2013
July 2016 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - July '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we talk to Fire Marshall, Ken Helms of the Enid, OK. Fire Department about his team winning the Fire Investigator of the Year award.
March 2016 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - March '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's fire investigation podcast from the IAAI's CFITrainer.Net focuses on the Youth Firesetting Information Repository and Evaluation System, which is called YFIRES for short.
February 2016 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - February '16 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's fire investigation podcast from the IAAI's CFITrainer.Net focuses on what you need to do to ensure the integrity of samples sent to the lab. A conversation with Laurel Mason of Analytical Forensic Associates.
September 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - September '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. Our podcast related to the legalization of recreational marijuana and its effect on fire investigation was one of the most popular podcasts ever on CFITrainer.Net. This month’s podcast is a follow up with one of our listeners from California who is an investigator doing training on this very topic.
August 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - August '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast is about NFIRS where we interview the Executive Director of The National Association of State Fire Marshals Fire Research and Education Foundation, Jim Narva.
July 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - July '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. In this special edition of podcast we’re going to meet the newest IAAI Investigator of the Year, Andrea Buchanan.
May 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - May '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's Arson Investigator podcast from IAAI & CFITrainer interviews Jason McPherson from MSD Engineering to talk about some of these new technology tools.
April 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's Arson Investigator podcast from IAAI & CFITrainer interviews Dave Perry, a lawyer in Colorado discussing what fire chiefs, fire investigators, and the legal system are seeing in a state with legalized cannabis in regard to fire cause involving marijuana.
February 2015 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - Feb '15 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's Arson Investigator podcast from IAAI & CFITrainer interviews Mike Schlatman and Steve Carman who are both successful fire investigators and now business owners who have transitioned from the public to the private sector.
December 2014 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - December '14 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast interviews Steve Avato from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives explaining the process of elimination and how it is a critical part of the scientific method.
June 2014 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - June '14 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast interviews the 2014 Investigator of the Year.
April 2014 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '14 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast interviews with Don Robinson, Special Agent in Charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Currently stationed at the National Center for Explosives Training and Research, located at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
January 2014 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - January '14 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast takes a look inside the process of revising NFPA 921 and NFPA 1033.
October 2013 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - October '13 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast focuses on the fire research work of Underwriters’ Laboratories, better known as UL.
February 2013 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - February '13 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month we have an interview with George Codding who returned from a recent trip to Saipan and gives us a closer look at the international activities of the International Association of Arson Investigators
Mid Year 2012 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - Mid Year '12 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This podcast features a mid-year update on the IAAI’s new initiatives and ways for you to get more involved with the organization.
September 2012 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - September '12 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features an in-depth look at the recent live-burn fire experiments exercise conducted on Governor’s Island, New York by the New York City Fire Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Underwriters Laboratory, and the Trust for Governor’s Island.
August 2012 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - August '12 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This is a special edition of the CFITrainer.Net podcast previewing the ITC 2013. There’s a new name for the Annual Training Conference from the IAAI now called the International Training conference.
April 2012 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '12 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features an interview with Chief Ernest Mitchell, Jr., the US Fire Administrator. Also we will discuss the upcoming ATC, Annual Training Conference, from the IAAI about to happen in Dover, Delaware.
March 2012 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - March '12 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features an interview with ATF Special Agent Billy Malagassi out of the Tulsa, OK Field Office about investigating fires in clandestine drug labs. We also report on NIST’s findings in the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire and IAAI’s Evidence Collection Practicum.
December 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - December '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features one of the presenters from this year’s IAAI ATC and see how a single photo broke the Provo Tabernacle fire case.
October 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - October '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features an interview with Deborah Nietch, the new Executive Director of IAAI.
July 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - July '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features an interview with Tom Fee discussing details of investigating wildland fires.
June 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - June '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month's podcast features a lot of exciting things that are happening at CFITrainer.Net
May 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - May '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month highlights the IAAI ATC in Las Vegas and the third installment in the "It Could Happen to You" series.
ATC 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - This podcast discusses the upcoming IAAI Annual Training Conference and National Arson Awareness Week.
April 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This podcast announces the release of the program, The First Responder’s Role in Fire Investigation, which teaches first responders how to make critical observations and take important scene preservation actions at a fire scene.
March 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - March '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features some of the instructors from the upcoming 2011 Annual Training Conference, to provide a preview of the courses they will be presenting.
February 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - February '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features an update on fire grants and an interview with Steve Austin
January 2011 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - January '11 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features the release of the new edition of Fire Investigator: Principles and Practice to NFPA 921 and 1033, new flammability requirements from UL for pre-lit artificial Christmas trees and a growing fire problem in Dubai with factories turned into worker dormitories.
December 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - December '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast focuses on home candle fires, lightning punctures in gas piping, and respiratory diseases in the fire services.
November 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - November '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features research findings for structural stability in engineered lumber by UL, the ban on antifreeze in residential sprinkler systems, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation of Jeep Grand Cherokee fuel tanks.
October 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - October '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features high-profile fire cases, why people leave stovetop cooking unattended and how new sensors under development may improve fire research.
September 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - September '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features how to use the ATF’s Bomb Arson Tracking System, IAAI Foundation grants, electrical fires and indoor marijuana cultivation.
August 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - August '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast focuses on social media as a fire investigation tool, a potential problem with modular home glued ceilings and research from Underwriters Laboratories on the effects of ventilation on structure fires.
July 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - July '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast is a roundtable on some of the latest research and technical activities that impact fire investigation, featuring Daniel Madrzykowski (moderator), Steven Kerber, and Dr. Fred Mowrer.
June 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - June '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast discusses career advancement, budget cuts and their impact on fire investigation, and the 2010-2016 ATF Strategic Plan.
ATC 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - Follow-up and Interviews from Orlando. Learn about the conference, hear what attendees had to say.
May 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - May '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. The second in our safety series called "It Could Happen To You." Our Long-Term Exposure roundtable is moderated by Robert Schaal.
April 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. The first of our two-part safety series called "It Could Happen To You." Our roundtable is moderated by Robert Schaal.
March 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - March '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features a conversation about legislative affairs affecting the fire service with Bill Webb, Executive Director of the Congressional Fire Services Research Institute.
February 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - February '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features our interview with a commercial kitchen’s fire expert about what you need to know when you work a commercial kitchen fire.
January 2010 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - January '10 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features a look at preliminary research on corrosion caused by Chinese drywall, a new database focused on fires in historic buildings, a warning on blown-in insulation, and the launch of the new firearson.com web site.
December 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - December '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features cooking fires, highlights of the International Code Council’s Annual Meeting on code requirements, including requiring residential sprinkler systems, and an easy way to keep up with recalls from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
November 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - November '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features chimney fires, including recent news on surgical flash fires, a proposed national arsonist registry, lightning research and an innovation in personal protective equipment.
October 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - October '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast is devoted to Fire Prevention Week.
September 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - September '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features the relationship between climate conditions and fire risk, new research on formulating fireproof walls and the latest in IAAI news.
July 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - July '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month features a look at outdoor grill fires, a fatal fire at a homeless camp in Southern NJ, new NIST research on human behavior during building fires, and IAAI news.
June 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - June '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features live reports from the 2009 IAAI Annual Training Conference held in May.
May 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - May '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This podcast is dedicated to National Arson Awareness Week.
April 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - April '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features the NFPA 921 chapter on marine fire investigations and the myth and reality of static electricity as a source of ignition.
March 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - March '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month focuses on the rise of the hybrid vehicle and what its unique engineering means for the investigation of vehicle fires, the rash of devastating arson fires in Coatesville, Pennsylvania from December 2008 to February 2009, and news from IAAI.
January 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - January '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast focuses on the deepening financial crisis in the US and arson for profit fires, how going green may pose a fire hazard and see how rope lighting may be a source of ignition, and IAAI’s Expert Witness Courtroom Testimony course.
December 2008 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - December '08 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month’s podcast features Christmas tree fires, changes to critical fire investigation publications, the weak economy’s impact on home fires, wind’s effect on structure fires, and ATC 2009.