Collecting adequate data from a fire scene is critical to the developing and testing fire origin, cause, and spread hypotheses. We employ a systematic approach to ensure that all relevant data is collected using a combination of traditional methods, digital imaging, and, where applicable, high-tech image scanning that creates an interactive 3D model of the fire scene. These models are useful for many purposes, including “walking” a jury through the virtual fire scene. We can record aerial imagery to document large or complex fire scenes as well as wildfire development.  Our aerial videography offers a detailed view in real time of fire spread, topography, and other factors which can impact the claim.

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By clicking the following the Matterport links, you can tour a fire scene as our investigators initially encountered it and then see the scene when we finished the layering process to identify the investigation dynamics.

• Initial scene documentation

• Post scene dig-out documentation

After data has been collected, we apply our industry-leading education, training, and experience to developing and testing origin and cause hypotheses.  Through this detailed analysis, we can provide answers to a case’s central questions:

• Where did the fire start?

• What was the ignition source?

• What was the first fuel ignited?

• What circumstances brought the ignition source and first fuel together in the area of origin?

While it is important to know the chain of events that caused the fire or explosion, it is often more important to accurately identify the parties responsible for the injury, loss of life, or property damage resulting from the event.  Through analysis of both scene and non-scene data, we go beyond “origin and cause,” where required, to identify the responsible parties and the nature of their involvement.

Electrical and mechanical appliances are often blamed for “causing” a fire, frequently without merit. Manufacturers strive to “engineer out” hazards and build redundant safety devices into their appliances and industrial equipment, making failure rare. Our systematic origin and cause analysis, coupled with painstaking research and detailed analysis of the product(s) alleged to have been involved in ignition of the fire, allows us to reliably determine whether a product failure actually occurred.

Fire codes are intended to preserve and protect life and property by minimizing the risk of catastrophic fire or explosion events.  Our multiple certifications in fire code inspection and enforcement form the basis for analysis of the fire event to not only determine why the fire spread to the extent it did but also whether any violation of fire codes contributed to the loss and who is responsible for that violation. 

To prevail in litigation, the fire investigation expert’s opinions must survive careful and serious challenge. A technical review is the proper mechanism to test origin and cause opinions. Whether reviewing the opinions of opposing experts or providing a second opinion for our client’s designated experts, we apply our extensive knowledge of NFPA 921 to our analysis of another expert’s methodology and conclusions. 

Our experience in the civil and criminal litigation process, as well as in the courtroom, allows us to give clients and counsel thoughtful guidance about the discovery process, expert depositions, and courtroom testimony.

Our experts have qualified as expert witnesses in fire origin and cause, fire investigation methodology, code inspection and analysis, and fire and safety engineering technology in federal, state, and local courts across the United States.

With almost two decades of experience as a principal member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Investigation, which is responsible for authoring NFPA 921, we can evaluate other investigators’ compliance with 921, which is widely regarded as the gold “Standard of Care,” and the resulting reliability of their origin and cause opinions.

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Standard of Care not only applies to investigation compliance but also equipment operation, maintenance, human interventions, and manufacturing processes. Our Certified Team has the experience to guide you through the standards and potential circumvention of safety controls in place that caused or contributed to the loss, injury, or death.

We are highly qualified to perform fire analysis on any type of vehicle or heavy equipment. Our education, training, and certification as vehicle fire investigators, as well as personal ownership experience with passenger vehicles, recreational vehicles, and farm implements, provide a solid foundation for the investigation of failure modes contributing to fire cause. Our team has conducted hundreds of vehicle test burns, published papers, and offered expert testimony on vehicles and vehicular systems.

We offer in-house engineering and contract engineering statewide and nationally. Our engineering staff provides fire scene documentation, in-depth analysis of systems, and, most importantly, offers failure dynamics to aid in cause determination. Our engineering team and investigators are well-versed in trending marijuana growth and extraction facilities, having consulted on pre- and post-fire analysis of systems. 

Our team has consulted on a wide variety of subjects, such as multi-story residential fire alarm systems, high hazard commodity storage, high-piled storage, manufacturing processes, extraction facilities and grow laboratories, and numerous fire and life safety projects.  Our team can perform:

• NFPA/ICC referenced standards code consulting

• Fire and building code compliance analysis and reporting

• Project oversight with authorities having jurisdiction

• Fire hazard risk analysis

• Mediation, negotiation, and code conflict resolution

• Fire and life safety evaluation

• On-site analysis of fire code life safety and egress requirements

• Smoke spread analysis

• Hazardous Materials Inventory Statement (HMIS) and Hazardous Materials Management Plan (HMMP)

• Fire sprinkler evaluation of activations due to fire

• Hazard occupancy and special use projects

• Hazardous materials storage, handling, and use

• Risk analysis and options for explosion control and mitigation

• Exhaust systems based on hazard evaluation

• Warehousing and high-piled storage

• Special use facilities such as extraction facilities, milling of flammable metals

• Training and education of the public, owners/employees, management groups, or invested personnel

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Attorney J. Smith Testimonial

“I have worked with Keith and his team for years.  Our work has involved very complicated origin and cause fire investigations involving claims valued in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. Keith’s knowledge and expertise regarding fire investigation, causation analysis, and forensic fire code assessment is second to none.”

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Fire code consulting requires extensive knowledge coupled with the practical application of the numerous intricacies in various code books. For many people, fire codes and building codes, along with standards and recommended practices, can be overwhelming. FFC has trained staff who are certified through the NFPA and the International Code Council (ICC) and have applied that knowledge in the field through the inspection, testing, and certification phases of the actual codes. Integrating the knowledge of fire codes with the understanding of a building that has sustained a fire, our experts can guide you through the forensic discovery process to determine which factors may affect your case, including, but not limited to:

• What Codes were in place at the time of the event?

• Were they the proper codes for the area/building?

• Did the building meet the code requirements?

• Were life safety criteria met per codes?

• Was life safety a factor with egress in/out?

• Did the structure have adequate fire protection?

• Were interior contents a factor in fire spread?

• What system, mechanism, or protection factor failed and why?

Our investigators have testified in forensic fire code cases and presented fire codes in trials to educate judges and juries on the codes’ relevance and application.  These trials resulted in favorable outcomes for our clients, from low millions to hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Our certified team also provides conflict resolution involving existing building modifications and the codes’ requirements to upgrade. Our team integrates with the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) to provide meaningful insight into operational solutions to meet code requirements. Our team has prepared presentations to homeowners associations, management companies, building owners, and contractors to educate them on the code requirements driving proposed changes and the justification for such changes. Our expertise in the aftermath of a fire lends exceptional credibility to these types of presentations and the interactive discussions that follow.