Welcome to this edition of the IAAI’s CFITrainer.Net podcast. A few quick items before we get into the news.

The IAAI is pleased to announce that there is an IAAIEvidenceGuide.com, it's a new web site, its delivering detailed written recommendations, procedures and video demonstrations for how to collect over 50 types of evidence found at fire scenes. The procedures were developed and vetted over a one year period by 5 evidence collection and testing experts. There's over 90 pages of written content and numerous demonstration videos. Many months were put into researching, writing, and refining each procedure. The site also contains collection checklists for the fire scene and an FAQ of more than 40 common evidence collection questions, covering everything from how to collect a potential ignitable liquid floating in a pool of water to whether or not cyanoacrylate fuming hinders subsequent DNA analysis. All content is freely available at no charge as a service to the profession. The procedures are in alignment with the practical skills necessary to earn the IAAI-ECT designation, so this web site is a fantastic resource for professionals working on earning that credential. You can check the site out right now at IAAIEvidenceGuide.com. And, if you are a CFITrainer.Net registered user, you should have gotten an email about the site, so we ask you to do a favor, could you forward that to any colleagues you have that may benefit from using IAAIEvidenceGuide.com. We'd appreciate that.

The 2019 election for IAAI’s Board of Directors is open for voting until Tuesday April 16 at noon Eastern Daylight Time. Voting has been active this year. IAAI Active and Life members are encouraged to vote. Your membership must be current to have voting privileges. You should have received an email with the ballot on February 19th. If you did not or have questions, contact the IAAI Office 800-468-IAAI or via email at membership@firearson.com.

It’s your last chance, it’s coming up the IAAI’s 2019 International Training Conference & Expo in Jacksonville, Florida, your last chance to register. The conference runs from April 14-19. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay current on a variety of topics by taking dozens of hours of training in one place. View the full schedule of classes and register at iaaiitc.com.

Now let’s get to some news.

On March 15, 2019, a massive fire destroyed the New England Casket Company in East Boston. It was fueled by combustibles in the building, including piles of lumber, bags of sawdust, and chemicals, the fire reached nine alarms and took hours to suppress. News media have reported that the owner of the company stated that the fire began in a furnace that heats the room where the caskets dry and that the area of origin was above the sprinkler system, therefore the sprinklers could not suppress the initial fire. We will keep an eye on this story as the investigation conclusions are reached.

An article from the Coast Mountain News of Canada details how many researchers are trying to use artificial intelligence to predict where wildfires are most likely to start. The research is focusing on how artificial intelligence might be able to figure out which of many data points are correlated and then extrapolate these correlations into a predictive model. This is just another example of how fire data is extremely important in fire protection and has potential to be a data point in ways we could not have anticipated only a few years ago. You can read more about this research using the link on the podcast’s page.

Very often, as we comb through our news sources for articles to feature on this podcast, we come across a fire that is called “undetermined.” The most recent example is a fire at the Bluebird fruit warehouse in Peshastin, Washington on March 3, 2019. The investigation was a joint effort between the Chelan County Department of Fire Prevention and Investigation, ATF, and the Chelan county Sheriff’s Office. Fire investigators from Travelers Insurance also worked the case. Even with all these resources and investigative expertise, investigators could not conclusively determine the fire cause. Even though investigators identified the area of origin and a light as a possible cause, they could not rule out the possibility that the fire was intentionally set, and therefore had to call the fire undetermined in both cause and classification. The concept of undetermined is sometimes misunderstood, so we have an entire module on CFITrainer.Net called “Understanding Undetermined” which takes a deep dive into issues like these and can provide you with guidance on when an undetermined cause and/or undetermined cause classification is appropriate. Take a look at the module we think it will sharpen your grasp on this topic.

If you enjoyed these stories and find the podcast valuable, consider supporting CFITrainer.Net with a donation. CFITrainer.Net is supported by grants, by the IAAI funds, and by donations from listeners like you. IAAI has applied for a USFA Fire Protection and Safety grant in this most recent cycle, however applications do not guarantee selection of a grant recipient. Your donations help keep this podcast on the air, modules being developed and CFITrainer alive. We want to get you the latest in fire investigation and good training and we want to keep it going for years to come. Use that red “Donate Today” button on the page to make your donation. 100% of what you give goes directly to CFITrainer.Net’s operating costs. We thank you for your support.

Thanks for joining us today on this podcast. Stay safe and we’ll see you next time on CFITrainer.Net.

For the IAAI and CFITrainer.Net, I’m Rod Ammon.