Accreditation, Certification, and Certificates
This program provides a primer on accreditation, certification, and certificates for fire investigation training.
CFITrainer.net now reaches more than 18,000 members and offers an assortment of investigative topics ranging from vacant buildings, fatal fires, complex fire scenes, evidence collection, motor vehicle fires, scene safety, the scientific method and much more. Currently, the network has more than 20 available programs and has delivered more than 100,000 hours of credit. New modules are currently in development. Webinars and podcasts are also available to serve more immediate or portable needs of the community.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and The Insurance Committee for Arson Control (ICAC) serve as partners with the IAAI in continuing the valuable and extensive creation of programs on CFITrainer.net now and in the future. Stonehouse Media Incorporated®, an electronic media company from N.J., partnered with the IAAI to create www.CFITrainer.net, by taking advantage of an existing online platform created for the medical industry. Using high-definition video, film, graphics, animation and interactivity, Stonehouse Media has been training first responders for ten years.
Recently, Ken Finley, the president of IAAI expressed his gratitude for the complete support of the Department of Homeland Security and United States Fire Administration. "Together with DHS and USFA, we have poured an electrified foundation for online learning that has delivered great returns on taxpayer dollars. This online training and education will help Americans be safer by improving prevention and prosecuting arson".
Much of the success of CFITrainer.net has stemmed from the marketing and promotional efforts that the IAAI and Stonehouse Media have conducted to inform others about CFITrainer.net. Such initiatives have included seminars at the IAAI's Annual Training Conference, trade show booths at industry shows, national outreach via IAAI state chapters, construction of a CFITrainer.net promotional and excerpts DVD, and putting together a meeting-in-a-box (informational pieces on CFITrainer.net, investigator rulers and promo DVDs) for IAAI instructors. Search engine optimization has also been very important to the outreach, with over 30% of the audience coming straight from the web.
Most recently, the IAAI and Stonehouse Media worked to integrate the IAAI's live classroom training seminars into CFITrainer.net. By creating a ticketing process, students and instructors can now set-up and take tests after becoming a member of CFITrainer.net and entering in the pin number they receive at the seminar. This new feature is allowing more IAAI members to learn about CFITrainer.net and experience its user friendly testing features, and browse the available online programs.
"I am very excited that we have such a great success online, but we have only just begun. Now we are receiving a wave of interest from those in higher education in colleges and universities nationwide. In the future, we will be integrating our online courses with more advanced courses that can only be delivered in person. The cfitrainer.net system is already helping to build tests and track live training on a state and local basis", said Ken Finley, President of the International Association of Arson Investigators.
The grant for phase five of CFITrainer.net has just been awarded and there are plans to grow and update the network and its content based on the needs of the fire investigation community. Future programs are being determined by the IAAI Board of Directors with guidance from the CFITrainer Steering Committee. The IAAI is passionate about the training and education being delivered on CFITrainer.net and anticipates membership and interest in the program will continue to soar as others become aware of this valuable and free training tool.
For more information, visit www.CFITrainer.net or contact the IAAI at 1-800-468-4224 or via the Web at www.firearson.com.
News ArchiveThis program provides a primer on accreditation, certification, and certificates for fire investigation training.
This module covers how CNG, LNG, LPG, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles work and their implications for fire investigation.
A fire occurred on the night of Feb. 20, 2003, in The Station nightclub at 211 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick, Rhode Island.
Arc Mapping, or Arc Fault Circuit Analysis, uses the electrical system to help reconstruct a scene, providing investigators with a means of determining the area of a fire’s origin.
This module introduces basic electrical concepts, including: terminology, atomic theory and electricity, Ohm’s Law, Joule’s Law, AC and DC power.
A fire occurred on the evening of June 18, 2007, in the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, SC that resulted in the deaths of nine fire fighters.
This module looks at the many ways fire investigators enter and grow in the profession through academia, the fire service, law enforcement, insurance, and engineering.
This module describes the design, construction, components, and operation of a commercial kitchen’s ventilation, fire suppression, and cooking fuel systems.
This module provides an investigative framework for commercial kitchen fires and discusses major commercial kitchen systems and activities as they relate to possible fire origin and cause.
This module looks at four of the most commonly-reported accidental fire causes: cooking equipment, heating equipment, electrical distribution, and smoking materials.
This program brings three highly experienced fire investigators and an attorney with experience as a prosecutor and civil litigator together for a round table discussion.
This module introduces the elements of a deposition, discusses typical lines of questioning, and describes how to prepare for a deposition.
This module proposes effective ways to respond to the most common questioning tactics employed by opposing counsel in a deposition.
The program discusses the basics of digital photography for fire investigators as well as software and editing procedures for digital images intended as evidence.
This self-paced program is an introduction to discovery in civil proceedings such as fire loss claims and product defect lawsuits.
This self-paced program is an introduction to discovery in criminal proceedings.
This module covers the foundation of DNA evidence: defining, recognizing, collecting, and testing.
This program provides a practical overview of how to perform the baseline documentation tasks that occur at every scene.
Guidance on selecting, donning, and doffing PPE for post-fire scenes, focusing on respiratory protection.
This module will discuss the techniques and strategies for conducting a proper science-based fire scene investigation and effectively presenting an investigator’s findings in court as an expert witness.
This program explains the basic principles of how electric and hybrid vehicles are designed and work, including major systems and typical components.
This program discusses common failure modes, evidence handling procedures, and safety protocols for electric and hybrid vehicles.
This module presents critical electrical safety practices that every fire investigator should implement at every scene, every time.
In this program, we will look at emerging technologies that fire investigators are integrating into their daily investigative work with great success.
This self-paced program examines the fire investigator's ethical duties beyond the fire scene.
This module discusses the intersection of social media, ethics, and the relationship of what’s legal to what’s ethical in decision-making.
Should you work for a private lab as a consultant if you are on an Arson Task Force? How about accepting discounts from the local hardware store as a “thanks” for a job well done on a fire they had last year?
This module takes investigators into the forensic laboratory and shows them what happens to the different types of fire scene evidence that are typically submitted for testing.
This module teaches the foundational knowledge of explosion dynamics, which is a necessary precursor to investigating an explosion scene.
This module addresses the foundations of fire chemistry and places it within the context of fire scene investigations.
The program is designed to introduce a new Palm/Pocket PC application called CFI Calculator to users and provide examples of how it can be used by fire investigators in the field.
This module discusses foundational wildland fire terminology, factors that influence wildland fire behavior, how these factors interact to produce fire effects (and subsequently fire patterns), and new research into fire dynamics in the wildland that is challenging assumptions.
Learn about the mass loss and deformation effects of heat on fuels, including definition, formation explanation, the fire scene context, and implications for fire pattern analysis.
Learn how combustion by-products that cause discoloration and smoke deposition on surfaces and the implications for fire pattern analysis.
This module explains fire flow path and discusses the effects of ventilation, fuel availability, and the modern fire environment on that flow path.
This module provides a road map for fire officers to integrate and navigate their fire investigation duty with all their other responsibilities and describes where to obtain specific training in fire investigation.
The evaluation of hazards and the assessment of the relative risks associated with the investigation of fires and explosions are critical factors in the management of any investigation.
This module will describe the most commonly encountered fire protection systems.
This module presents best practices in preparing for and conducting the informational interview with witnesses in the fire investigation case.
This module provides instruction on the fundamentals of residential building construction with an eye toward how building construction affects fire development.
This module provides introductory information on the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard – 29 CFR 1910.120.
This module teaches first responders, including fire, police and EMS, how to make critical observations.
This module helps the investigator understand how IGL canine teams are trained and worked so investigators can work in partnership with the handler to conduct searches successfully and safely.
The program examines the importance of assessing the impact of ventilation on a fire.
This program discusses how to access insurance information, understand insurance documents, ask key questions of witnesses, and apply the information learned.
This module offers a basic introduction about how some selected major appliances operate.
This program introduces the fire investigator to the issues related to the collection, handling and use of evidence related to a fire investigation.
This program takes you inside the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) archives of some of the most interesting and instructive test burns and fire model simulations they have ever conducted.
This program describes the scope of the youth-set fire problem, how fire investigation addresses it, and the fire investigator’s responsibilities in a youth-set fire case.
This module provides a thorough understanding of the ways an investigation changes when a fire-related death occurs.
This self-paced program will help you understand what to expect at a fire where an LODD has occurred, what your role is, how to interact with others, and how to handle special circumstances at the scene.
This program will introduce the fire investigator to the basic methodologies use to investigate vehicle fires.
This module discusses investigating a fire when natural gas is present, including natural gas as an ignition and fire spread source, documentation, and system testing.
This module discusses the juvenile justice system, legalities of interviews and interrogations, arson statutes, search and seizure, and confidentiality.
This program explains what lithium-ion batteries are, how they are constructed, where they are used, safety concerns, and how they can cause fires and explosions.
This program discusses the latest developments in expert testimony under the Daubert standard, including the MagneTek case decided in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals.
This module focuses on how to manage investigations that have “complicating” factors.
This module uses the Motive, Means, and Opportunity case study to demonstrate how responsibility is determined in an arson case.
This program covers the general anatomy of a motor vehicle and a description of typical components of the engine, electrical, ignition, and fuel systems.
This program describes the function and major components of a motor vehicle’s transmission, exhaust, brake, and accessory systems.
This module discusses the highlights of important changes in these new editions and their implications for fire investigation.
This module educates the investigator about NFPA 1033’s importance, its requirements, and how those requirements impact the fire investigator’s professional development.
This module is “PPE 101” for all personnel who operate at post-fire scenes.
This module discusses how photovoltaic systems work, how they are designed and installed, and how to safely interact with them when investigating a fire scene.
The program illustrates for the fire investigator, how non-traditional fire scene evidence can be helpful during an investigation.
This module describes ventilation-controlled fire flow and interpretation of postflashover fire damage patterns.
This module demonstrates the investigative potential of information stored on electronic devices.
This module explains the relationship between NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921.
This module lays the groundwork for understanding marine fires by covering four basic concepts that the investigator must understand before investigating a marine fire.
In this module, you will learn more about how cancer develops, what occupational exposure risks to carcinogens exist at fire scenes, and how to better protect yourself against those exposures.
The use of the process of elimination in the determination of a fire cause is a topic that has generated significant discussion and controversy in the fire investigation profession.
This module teaches the basics of the electrical power generation, distribution, and transmission system.
This module presents the basics of natural gas and its uses and system components in a residence.
The basics of the scientific method are deceptively simple: observe, hypothesize, test, and conclude.
This module explains the principles of search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment, as contained in the amendment and according to subsequent case law and applies them to typical fire scene scenarios.
This module describes how to conduct a site safety assessment, identify potential hazards, craft a plan to mitigate risks, and act so you do not bring the hazards home.
This module addresses the foundations of thermometry, including the definition of temperature, the scales used to measure temperature and much more.
This program presents the results of flame experiments conducted with a candle.
This self-paced program explains to non-investigators the role of the fire investigator, what the fire investigator does, how the fire investigator is trained, what qualifications the fire investigator must meet.
This program untangles the meanings of “undetermined,” explains its correct usage, and describes how to properly report “undetermined” fire cause and classification.
This module will advise fire investigators on how to approach the fact-finding procedures necessary and validate a hypothesis.
This module provides an overview on how structures can become vacant and eventually abandoned.
This self-paced program provides a basic framework for structuring the management of fire cases and fire investigators.
This module illustrates how wildland fires spread, explains how to interpret burn patterns unique to these types of fires.
This module presents the key elements of the initial origin and cause report and methods of clearly presenting findings in a professional manner.