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 the CFITrainer.Net podcast.  Today we’re going to focus on the rise of the hybrid vehicle and what its unique engineering means for the investigation of vehicle fires.  Then we’ll focus on a story that’s been dominating the news in the northeast, the rash of devastating arson fires in Coatesville, Pennsylvania from December 2008 to February 2009.  Then we’ll wrap up with the latest news from IAAI. </p>
<p>Going green has become a major trend in the United States.  Making earth friendly purchasing and consumption choices is increasingly on the mind of consumers.  Rising gas prices in 2008 severely pinched many Americans and made all of us think about whether our next car should be a hybrid.  Hybrid vehicles are engineered differently than traditional internal combustion engine only cars, and accordingly, have different sources of possible fire ignition and pathways for fire spread.  Hybrid vehicles combine an electric motor with an internal combustion engine.  The vehicle can be powered by a number of sources, including a rechargeable energy storage system, gasoline or diesel fuel, hydrogen or liquefied natural gas.</p>
<p>For this story, we’re focusing on consumer hybrid electric petroleum vehicles.  These vehicles commonly use an internal combustion engine and electric batteries to power electric motors.  There are many types of drive trains that deliver this power, and the investigator should be aware of how the vehicle being investigated was engineered.  In 2007, R.L. Polk & Company reported over 350,000 new hybrid vehicle registrations nationwide, a 38% increase over 2006.  J.D. Power & Associates forecast that hybrids will account for 7% of the car market in 2015.  Therefore, it’s increasingly likely that fire investigators will encounter vehicle fires involving hybrids. </p>
<p>To learn more about consumer hybrids and how they may affect investigations, let’s turn to Dr. R. Rhoads Stephenson, known by many of his friends, associates and peers as Rhoady.  Rhoady, thanks for joining us today.  Welcome, and let’s begin with a little bit about your background and then we’ll move to how consumer hybrid vehicles work.</p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Oh goodness, okay.  Well I spent 36 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and did all kinds of things there, and I headed up the technology program towards the end of my career.  During the middle of that time, I spent three years at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as head of R&D.  That was about 30 years ago, but that’s what got me in the car business.  Back in the 70s I did a study for Ford looking at all the alternative power plants, all the different kinds of combustion engines like gas turbines and sterling engines and diesels and steam engines, but we also looked at hybrids and hydrogen cars and things like that back in the 70s and put out a report that I think is still pretty useful and pretty accurate.  More recently, since I retired from JPL, I’ve been working with an organization called the Motor Vehicle Fire Research Institute, and we conducted about $4 million worth of research on automobile fires.</p>
<p>Okay, well, there are a variety of different kinds of hybrids.  As you probably know, they’ve been around for about ten years.  The first one was the Honda Insight in about 1997 and then the Prius came out around 1998.  So they’ve been on the market a little over ten years.  And even though they’ve been remarkably successful and popular and have had very few technical problems, these vehicles still only constitute about 2% of the new vehicle sales. </p>
<p>Now how they work.  There probably aren’t two hybrids on the road that are exactly the same.  They have a wide variety of parameters.  The thing that they have in common is they have an energy storage device onboard, which allows the vehicle to be more fuel efficient.  That is done by being able to provide additional power to accelerate the vehicle and to capture some of the breaking energy and put it back into this energy storage device.  Almost always that energy storage device is a battery, and the size of the battery can vary widely.  On the small end some of the hybrids merely have the capability of shutting off the engine when you stop at a stop light for a long period of time and then turn it on very rapidly when you step on the accelerator.  So it’s seamless.</p>
<p>The next step up has a somewhat larger battery that can help with an acceleration run when you step on the gas, and it can also capture some of the breaking energy and put it back in the battery.  That will get a bigger fuel economy improvement.  And then as the batteries get even larger, you can do more and more work with the battery and less and less work with the internal combustion engine, and the goal of all this is to have the internal combustion engine work in its most efficient region and not have to work when it’s inefficient like idling or at low loads and things like that.  So this is one of the strategies that the auto manufacturers are using to increase the fuel economy of vehicles.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: Rhoady, in terms of fire ignition sources, what makes hybrid vehicles different than what an investigator sees in a traditional vehicle?</p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Okay, well all of the ignition sources of conventional vehicles are still there because we still have an internal combustion engine and gasoline onboard.  Then in addition to that, we’re going to have high voltage electricity.  So there might be some failure modes where you could have a short that would cause arcing and be a…ignition source.  Although these systems are quite sophisticated and they have computer controls and they have double pole contactors on the cables to disconnect the battery in case of a short or other malfunction, but theoretically there could be issues where you’d have a high voltage short.  Then, as I say, sometimes the battery itself, if it’s abused or overheated or attacked by fire might also be a source of fire.  Some of the battery materials are flammable and maybe even some of the materials of the case of the battery could be flammable.  So there are some additional ignition sources and there’s some additional materials that might be the first material ignited.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: Have you seen fire causes that are typically seen in hybrid vehicles?</p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Well I personally am not aware of any fires in hybrid vehicles.  I haven’t been looking for them either.  So I assume there have been some, but I’m not aware of any.  I mean, there’s two ways of looking at the fire as well.  One is where the high voltage or the battery could be a new ignition source or even a first material ignited as the cause of the fire.  Or the other is what is the response of the battery to a fire elsewhere in the vehicle that maybe starts from the internal combustion engine or anywhere else in the vehicle, but unrelated to the high voltage?  So there’s both a cause and there’s a response to fire that could be different in a hybrid vehicle.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: What potential impacts does the design of hybrids have on fire spread and damage patterns? </p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Well, to first order, I wouldn’t see a big change.  I think these batteries tend to be either under the vehicle or behind the back seat or kind of under the trunk or something like that, and they’re kind of out of the way, and of course, if the fire starts in or around the battery then you would see a different fire pattern in a different part of the car where the fire originates.  So yes, there could be some differences, but you still have an internal combustion engine on this vehicle and you still have gasoline and you still have all the flammable under hood fluids that a typical gasoline fueled vehicle would have, so it’s probably more likely than not that the fire is going to start more or less the same way as in a conventionally fueled vehicle.</p>
<p>Now there have been some publicity about battery fires, particularly with cell phones and laptop batteries and things like that, and people are going to ever more energetic batteries.  Most of the hybrids today have what they call nickel/metal hydride batteries, which are better than lead acid that we’re used to, but the generation after nickel/metal hydride is lithium ion, and there’s a lot of different manufacturers that are developing and soon will be on the road with lithium ion batteries.  They have more energy, therefore, they have more potential for having a chemical excursion that could result in heat release and/or fire.  People are very conscious of this and they’re doing a lot of work to come up with designs of these batteries that will be safe from a fire point of view.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: Rhoady, what impact does hybrid vehicle design have on investigator safety?</p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Yeah, that’s a very good issue and worth thinking about.  The main issue that the investigator should be aware of is that you’ve got a high energy, high voltage battery pack onboard somewhere.  It may have as much as 400 volts and it’s a direct current, and if you touch that you’re dead.  So the other thing I would add, now these cars do have automatically controlled contactors which will disconnect the battery from the rest of the vehicle.  I should mention that all of the high voltage cabling has orange colored insulation on it.  So you never want to cut into or touch anything that’s orange.  The battery pack is probably in some sort of a protected compartment, and I would suggest that you not go into that compartment by yourself.  You probably ought to have a trained mechanic from the dealership of the automobile you’re dealing with before you start messing around inside that battery pack compartment because one misstep, one screwdriver or wrench that touches the wrong post and you may get a very serious shock and it would be fatal.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: So Rhoady, before we wrap up, where are other places that a fire investigator might look for information about hybrid vehicles and the upcoming issues around vehicles that affect them?</p>
<p>R. RHOADS STEPHENSON: Okay, well I developed a paper with Orrin West, from Ford Motor Company, about a little over, almost three years ago, and it was presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigation, Science & Technology in June of 2006.  The title of the paper is Fire Investigation for Hybrid and Hydrogen Fueled Vehicles.  It’s available on our website, the website of the Motor Vehicle Fire Research Institute, which is www.mvfri.org.  That’s Motor Vehicle Fire Research Institute, and you can download it there.  This was suggested as an input into NFPA921, and I believe in the 2012 edition of NFPA921 there will be additional information on hybrid vehicles.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: Thanks, Rhoady, for the time you spent with us here at CFITrainer.Net.  Now, let’s turn our attention to the second story of our podcast, the string of arson fires in Coatesville, Pennsylvania beginning in early 2008 and intensifying over the last three months.  Sixty-six fires have been set since January 2008, many of them on the back porches of residential homes.  In December 2008, the first set of arrests were made, but the fires continued.  Then on February 18th and 19th, 2009, two men were arrested separately and charged with some of the fires—19 year old Mark Gilliam and 19 year old Roger Barlow.  But the Chester County Arson Task Force in charge of this case has cautioned that the investigation is not over.  The monetary and psychological toll of these fires has devastated the small community of Coatesville with a population of 10,000.  One fire destroyed 15 row houses, scores of families have been displaced, and countless citizens gripped with fear over whether they would be next.</p>
<p>With us today to talk about how the cooperative effort between the Coatesville Police Department, Chester County District Attorney’s Office, the Pennsylvania State Police, FBI and ATF to solve these arson crimes is John Hegeman from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  John is a special agent with the ATF and the spokesman for the Chester County Arson Task Force.  John, thanks for joining us.  First, tell us about the origins of the task force.  How did it get started?</p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: Well Coatesville, Pennsylvania had experienced an inordinate number of arsons for a community its size.  And even after they had a number of arrests, I think it was 14 of them in 2008, the fires still continued to be set.  So ATF had contacted the Coatesville Police Department in mid to late January of this year and offered investigative and intelligence related resources.  The Pennsylvania State Police contacted ATF and offered their resources and expressed a desire to start a task force.  So four of the agencies came together and the FBI joined shortly thereafter, and almost immediately after its creation we had four arsons occur in one evening.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: What’s the management structure of a task force John?  How does the information flow? </p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: Well the management structure is that of a unified command.  The incident command table within the command post is staffed by a senior official from each of the five agencies.  So we had decisions concerning the administration of the task force as well as investigative strategy come from this unified command.  This information is shared in a number of ways.  Within the command post itself we have twice daily briefings with input from all the disciplines within the room.  We also see information flow from bottom up and from top down, and the bottom up is that the investigator findings basically pass through the operations and the intelligence sections within the command post up to the incident commanders, and these incident commanders, with all of that information, steer the investigation in the direction of possible targets or suspects as well as procedures for going about the investigation.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: How are investigative tasks split between the partner agencies?  </p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: Well the workload is shared almost equally.  Obviously, we’ve got some of the specialty disciplines, the CFI work that is done by the fire marshals from the state police and from the CFIs from ATF.  But one of the things we’ve also noticed is that arson is actually investigated differently than some other crimes, and so some of the more experienced arson investigators that are part of this task force have shared the different, not just experiences, but also investigative techniques they’ve had with some of the other say agents from ATF or detectives from all the other agencies who may be more familiar with drug work than they are with arson work.  So this cooperative effort has really helped as far as even splitting the tasks.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: What role has the community played in this task force work John?</p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: One of the ways we actually looked at this is that it’s not just every resident that suffered a fire was a victim, really the entire city of Coatesville had been a victim because of the fear they had been living through.  So as a result of that we really tried to encourage them to come forward with any type of suspicious activity to the task force or to police.  We were always asking them to remove any kind of furniture or trash or any other type of materials from their porches because that’s where a lot of the fires were starting.  And also motion sensors were distributed in town and assistance was given to them with installation and operation and that kind of thing.  So the community, we were really trying to bring them in to help themselves, help us help them as well.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: What factors have enabled the task force to make arrests? </p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: Well we have a case management database established, which is very good for charting the progress of all the leads.  We note those that still are in need of completion, it’s good for review of what’s already been done for anybody who needs catch up as well as perhaps we may have missed something that’s gone unnoticed.  A lot of the evidence collection being done by the CFIs at the scene is always crucial to these type of investigations.  The communication tree that’s been established by phone and by text to keep people alert or notified of some of the most pertinent updates in the case as well as obviously the fires that are occurring.  And in the incident command structure, this unified command, in that all agencies really have a stake in this, they’re all involved in the decision making, so there’s pride as well as expertise being shared. </p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: What can other communities learn from how this task force has operated?</p>
<p>JOHN HAGEMAN: One of the things that we’ve also done here was come up with a communication plan from the outset.  We have used a single spokesperson for this, but that necessarily doesn’t have to be done, but it’s been the way that the information has been gathered and released.  The communications people within Chester County have been excellent in that there is nobody making a release of information in that county from volunteer fire company, to paid/volunteer companies, to police departments.  If it’s got anything to do with possibility of arsons related to this, all that information comes immediately to the coordinator of information release.  We’ll decide whether that should go out or not, and then, we said we only went with one spokesman, but truly this task force has spoken with just one voice, which is so important that there was never any misinformation being released.  We were able to take care of all of, any inconsistencies in the media that way, and the public was served better this way by getting the information quickly and correctly.</p>
<p>INTERVIEWER: John, thanks very much for joining us here at CFITrainer.Net on our podcast, and as you are very well aware, we really appreciate the work you do. </p>
<p>And in a recent update to our story here on CFITrainer.Net, this past week another arrest was made in Coatesville by the task force.  Thirty-seven year old firefighter, Robert Tracey, was arrested for lighting two recent fires.  Tracey was named Firefighter of the Year in 2004.  </p>
<p>We’ll end our podcast today with news from IAAI.  If you’re a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators, you will have the opportunity to vote in the election of a new Second Vice President and members of the Board of Directors.  The voting will begin on Friday, April 17th, and runs through Tuesday, May 19th at noon.  Go to the firearson.com website, members only section, to vote.  That’s firearson.com, members only section, to vote.  A number of IAAI chapters are holding their annual training events.  For locations and information, go to the IAAI training calendar also on <a href="http://www.firearson.com" target="_blank">www.firearson.com</a>.  </p>
<p>That’s all for this CFITrainer.Net podcast.  We’ll see you next month.</p>
<p></p>
2021
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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - As part of National Arson Awareness Week, CFITrainer.Net has a new podcast exploring the week's theme, "Arson During Civil Unrest."
December 2020 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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 Podcast - 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.
August 2009 CFITrainer.Net Podcast - August '09 IAAI & CFITrainer Fire Investigator Podcasts. This month takes a look at the dangerous combination of summer heat and oily rags, the rise in vacant home fires, and preview research underway on Australia’s devastating "Black Saturday" brush fires.
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.
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.