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.

Welcome to this edition of the IAAI’s CFITrainer.Net podcast. Today we welcome IAAI’s new Executive Director, Scott Stephens to talk about the future of the International Association Arson Investigators. Mr. Stephens comes to IAAI with a background in public relations, most recently as Executive Vice President of Bendure Communications. Scott, thanks for taking a few minutes to join us today on the podcast.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Thank you for having me, Rod.

ROD AMMON: The first thing I wanted to say is I think we started talking about this podcast you were a little bit newer than you are now, and you’ve been doing a lot of traveling. I know I’ve seen you in different places representing fire investigation and the members. So already we have reason to be grateful.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Getting up to speed yesterday, I was actually out in Emmitsburg, Maryland at the National Fire Academy. As a guest of Chief Hoover, I was able to sit in on a couple classes and actually examine some burn cells, so that was very interesting and to see a lot of people that are current members out there as well participating and instructing. So I’m learning as I go along and appreciating – appreciate all the help that folks are giving me.

ROD AMMON: Wow, that’s great to hear. That’s a great relationship with the USFA and what they do over there. So tell us a little bit about your background.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Sure. As you said, I came from a public affairs, public relations side of business. I worked with a – I was a partner in a firm based out of Washington, D.C. that worked with several associations and nonprofit clients. Some of our clients included the National Law Enforcement Museum, Volunteers of America, Defense Bar Association. I’ve also served on quite a few boards over the years, one being the American Red Cross, so I understand the nonprofit world. I understand the association world pretty good from a vendor standpoint, so it’s not a big learning curve for me to move on to the client side of the business.

ROD AMMON: I think it’s also really nice to know that you have a background in PR. I’ve – for the years, more than a decade, that I’ve been around with the IAAI working, one of the things that they haven’t been the greatest at is getting out the good word and being able to tell people the real energy and expertise that they have out there, so that’s great to know that you have that background.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Thanks, and we’re starting to see some of that. We’re starting to get – put out press releases on a more regular basis, and our Health and Safety Committee has done some fantastic things, and we’ve been able to get some pickup in other publications and on websites for studies, white papers that we’re doing that have meaningful –transpire over to other fire service industries.

ROD AMMON: It’s – by the way, I think the paper you’re talking about, the health and safety white paper, is available up at firearson.com.

SCOTT STEPHENS: It is. It is along with – there is a Best Practices Quick Facts Sheet as well that can be printed off there that complements the white paper.

ROD AMMON: Okay. Well, I hope people will do that. Again, that’s www.firearson.com. So what made you do the move over to the IAAI?

SCOTT STEPHENS: Good question. You know, I saw a great opportunity to join a well-respected global organization that contributes not only to the fire science community but to the general community as well and went for it.

ROD AMMON: So an interesting opportunity. I’m wondering about challenges and what you saw in the period of time. It’s been, what, three, four – I don’t know. It’s been months. What are the challenges you see?

SCOTT STEPHENS: We are like the Good Housekeeping seal for fire investigation, and we just have to continuously strive to keep at that level of expertise, if you will.

ROD AMMON: I think – and there’s a lot of competition out there from different organizations that are either doing training or may have organizations that are some of the folks that contribute to the fire investigation community. So there’s more and more move to science, and I hear what you’re saying. The Good Housekeeping seal of approval I think is well put, and that would come from CFIs and FITs and all the many different designations and certifications that the IAAI offers. So I could see that as being –

SCOTT STEPHENS: It’s just making sure that our curriculum is current and that we’re at the forefront of technology and that we are constantly updating our classes and our curriculum to reflect what’s going on in the fire science community.

ROD AMMON: I think that’s a challenge with any good organization, especially when you’re trying to be as credible as the IAAI has. So what do you see as opportunities? I know it’s a short period of time that you’ve been around, but you must think about wow.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Let’s go back to the – when you said the challenges.

ROD AMMON: Okay.

SCOTT STEPHENS: We need to stay at the forefront of technology with regard to fire science. I think we also need to be proactive, studying and documenting the cause of origin for new products and technology especially like e-cigarettes and other lithium battery products. So that’s part of the Training and Education Committee, but I think that we’re doing a good job with that, but we need to continuously keep on top of that and keep our finger on the pulse beat of that.

ROD AMMON: It’s nice, too, again going back to your PR background. We can have all this expertise that we want throughout the membership, and there is a lot, but once that content gets put together and information is gathered, it’s good to know that you’ll be putting together a force to get that information out to the public and to other fire investigators.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Correct.

ROD AMMON: So other opportunities for the IAAI to grow?

SCOTT STEPHENS: Well, I think that we have to look at the millennials and others entering the public sector in the fire and law enforcement. That’s the – we have to make our curriculum, our classes, CFITrainer.Net, which is already available to the general public – we have to make that known and, like you said, we have to do a better job of marketing ourselves or branding ourselves, if you will, to the folks that are already on the frontline within the fire and police community and make it known that they can utilize our learning platform to go on to the next step within their careers.

ROD AMMON: Okay.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Also, I think that we should do a better job with working with veterans that are coming out of the military and that want to pursue a career in fire science.

ROD AMMON: That’s something I hadn’t thought about and an interesting, thoughtful idea, and I’m sure there’s quite a bit of it, quite a bit of experience there that would be relevant. I hadn’t thought about it. Usually you think about these IED guys who are the folks in the Army that deal with explosives, but that’s part of our world, and all those explosives have ignition sources and all kinds of other things that are going on that relate to fire. When you think about priorities, you run a tight ship, and you’ve got – let’s say if you look out three to five years, what are you thinking about putting out there as your top priorities?

SCOTT STEPHENS: You know, I want to mimic what President Moylan ran on and talked about at the ITC in Frisco. Our top priority is to continue to grow our membership. We’re healthy, but we need to continually grow that and continue to add relevant content to our CFI Trainer platform and expand our on-the-ground training courses, which we’re doing. We’re constantly adding courses all around the country, actually all around the world, and you and your great team at Stonehouse are doing a phenomenal job adding modules to CFI Trainer. Like I said, I was out at the fire academy yesterday, and people were saying great things about the modules and about the program in general, so when you get that type of feedback, you know you’re doing the right thing, so we just have to continuously build on that foundation and update those modules as needed.

ROD AMMON: Well, thanks for the kind words, and we’re glad to hear that people are speaking up out there about the content that they’re capturing online. Speaking of which, I know that you have worked – are very interested in getting training better marketed, more informative, and more accessible at firearson.com, and that has changed but is going to be changing more so to make it – to bring the content straight up to the user and get it so that they can get the information they need at the appropriate time that they can take those classes and register is something that’s really nice, especially if you’re a member with the way that the flow starts to work now. By the way, when we talk about membership, I think it’s interesting. There was a time when I was around where membership was in the 4,000 zone, and now you’re over 9,000 if I’m not mistaken, correct?

SCOTT STEPHENS: We’re actually – we’re closing in on 10,000.

ROD AMMON: Good news, good news. So in terms of training because that seems to be a big topic, where do you see us going in the IAAI in the future?

SCOTT STEPHENS: Like I said, I think we’re looking at adding additional classes for our existing course and certifications, looking at creating new certifications for specific occurrences like wild land, marine, boat fires. I think we need to look at creating programs specifically for cause of origin. We also need to explore virtual and augmented reality as learning tools. The DOD is using augmented reality similar to what the kids are playing with Fortnite, but it’s first responder. So maybe we take that a step further and add the fire investigator into that, so that’s something that I’d like to explore down the road.

ROD AMMON: Pretty interesting stuff. So how about CFI Trainer? How does that fit as you see us moving ahead into the vision of training? Because that’s become more and more integrated all the time.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Distance learning is here to stay in all aspects of continuing education. That being said, I think we need to just – and what you’re doing. We need to continuously update and create new content. We also have to have a platform that works best for our member base, so the ability to serve content on any type of device from a desktop to a smart phone, because a lot of these people are sitting in a stationhouse, taking – watching your modules on their iPhone or their Android, so just continuously doing what we are doing right now with CFITrainer.net, which is looking at what’s going on with technology and adapting to that technology.

ROD AMMON: All right. Before we wrap up, any messages that – or a message that you want to get out there to the membership, to the fire investigation community?

SCOTT STEPHENS: Yeah. As I’m traveling, I just – I’m grateful to all the members out there that – everybody – there’s a lot of people that volunteer a lot of time and effort and hours to make this organization as great as it is, and it just – continue to do that. Continue to be active within the association, and let us know how we can better serve you. My phone number, email is readily available, so people can call me. People can email me. I strongly suggest the members join committees or submit articles to the journal. Get involved and stay involved. We’re only as good as our members, and we have some pretty great members. So thank you for what you’ve done, and let’s continue to keep doing that. We really appreciate it.

ROD AMMON: It’s a really good point. The expertise inside this membership has been incredible and very supportive of CFI Trainer. Without that expertise, without all that time that those people donate like you said, it just wouldn’t happen. You can make pretty pictures all you want, but until there’s credible content behind it, it’s meaningless. So we’re grateful, and I’m grateful to you for the time. I know you’re sort of getting fired up here still, and I don’t know, from the short period I’ve known you, I don’t think it takes long for you to get fired up.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Well, you know, it’s great to have a job that you really like getting up in the morning going to and working with just phenomenal people, and I’ve got great people in the office, membership top notch and willing to help out in every way. So it makes my learning curve that much quicker I guess, having the support that I do, so I appreciate it as well and look forward to many years of making and growing and continuing to keep us the leaders in fire investigations.

ROD AMMON: Thanks very much for what you’re doing, Scott.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Thank you, Rod. Have a great day.

ROD AMMON: All right, you, too. Be well.

SCOTT STEPHENS: Bye.

ROD AMMON: As was discussed, IAAI’s Health and Safety Committee has released a white paper to address the fact that health and safety practices and protocols for fire investigators have not kept pace with those for firefighters. Occupational exposure to combustion products does not stop when the fire is out. Fire investigators are exposed to vapors, gasses, and particulates, often with less safety preparation and personal protective equipment than firefighters. The white paper provides detailed information on the types of protection to use in various fire situations including hot scenes, warm scenes, and cold scenes. Even a cold scene is not safe—the mere act of walking through debris stirs up particulates that can be inhaled. The white paper also covers protocols to conduct a site-safety survey, guard against skin exposures, and clean and decontaminate gear and equipment after the scene examination. You can read the white paper at firearson.com, and there’s a direct link to it on this podcast’s page.

A few quick news items to close out this podcast.

It was impossible to resist clicking on this headline that came across our desk from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, “Meteorite, Satan ruled out, but fire in hole remains a mystery for Arkansas town.” A mysterious hole in the ground the size of a volleyball ejected a 12-foot flame on September 17th, which burned for more than 40 minutes. The fire was observed by the local fire official who saw it die down and go out. Subsequent investigation found no source of methane or natural gas. Because the hole has been there for some time accordingly to local residents, a recent meteorite strike was ruled out. The hole is linked underground to a nearby drainage ditch, and the indications are that it was probably dug by an animal. Nearby fuel tanks were tested and also ruled out. The investigation is ongoing.

And, finally, here’s one you might have seen in the news because it’s one of those things that you probably couldn’t make up if you tried. An off-duty border patrol agent was ordered to pay more than $8 million in restitution for causing the Sawmill Fire in Coronado State Forest in Arizona. How did he cause it? He shot a rifle at a target containing Tannerite so it would explode and release a colored powder that would indicate the gender of the baby he and his partner were expecting. He did this in front of family and friends at a “gender reveal” party. The explosion of the target touched off a fire that burned 47,000 acres of state and federally-owned land. The agent will also serve probation and make a PSA for the forest service.

Thanks for joining us today on the podcast. Stay safe and we’ll see you next time on CFITrainer.Net. For the International Association of Arson Investigators and CFITrainer.Net, I’m Rod Ammon.

IAAI

Vera, Amir. Border patrol agent's gender reveal party ignited a 47,000-acre wildfire. 2 Oct 2018.

Bowden, Bill. Meteorite, Satan ruled out, but fire in hole remains a mystery for Arkansas town. Arkansas Democrat Gazette. 1 Oct 2018.

Fire Investigator Health and Safety Best Practices. IAAI Health and Safety Committee.

2023
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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.
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.