Forensic Engineers and Consultants

Archive: Structural

Product Design is Critical to Consumer Safety

As the holiday season nears, thoughts turn to wonderful home-cooked meals with family.  Few things in life are more pleasurable than a traditional holiday turkey feast. Yet for an unfortunate few, holiday meal time can turn tragic if a turkey frying accident occurs.   While fried turkeys may be tasty, many fire safety experts feel that the reward is not worth the risk.  Read More

Author

John Holecek
Gas Appliance testing lab

Testing As Part of Gas Appliance Incident Investigation

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Equipment and appliances supplied with fuel gases like natural gas, propane and butane are a common and convenient part of most of our lives.  Such devices as gas grills and ranges, ovens, furnaces, space heaters and water heaters usually perform without incident.  However, when they malfunction the potential for incidents such as fires and explosions, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and burn injuries may occur. These incidents may be due to design and manufacturing defects in the product, or improper installation or operation of the device.

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Figure 1: A view of the improperly constructed fireplace alleged to have caused the subject fire. The hearth extension has been largely consumed in the fire.

Improper Fireplace Construction: Testing the Impact of Non-Compliant Clearance to Combustibles

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As the weather turns cold, many people use fireplaces to provide supplemental heat. The warmth from a fireplace is a comfort and the aesthetics of a glowing fire are a pleasure.  However, there is nothing pleasurable about a residential house fire that results from an improperly built or used fireplace or chimney. Read More

residential-structure-fire-wood

Post-Fire Inspection of Steel, Concrete, Masonry and Wood – Tips for an Insurance Adjuster, Part 2

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This is the second part of a 3-Part series to help insurance adjusters during a claim inspection to make a post-fire assessment of a building’s structural framing system.  Part 2 investigates and assesses the future use of common post fire structural framing elements such as steel, concrete, masonry and wood.  These more common structural elements take on different and specific characteristics when they are exposed to a fire.  It’s important for the adjuster to make reasonable, cost saving assessments on what remains, what is to be repaired, what gets demolished and what gets replaced. Read More

Charred-Wood-Structural-Members

Structural Evaluation After a Fire – Post-Fire Tips for an Insurance Adjuster, Part I

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This is a 3-Part series to help insurance adjusters during a claim inspection make a post-fire assessment of a building’s structural framing system.  From my numerous case history inspections involving damage to structural framing members after a fire, what appears obvious and straightforward is not always the case.  This article is a quick synopsis to help the adjuster be better prepared for a structural inspection and assessment while understanding what needs to be looked at, and if there are hidden factors to further investigate. Read More

The interior of this chase and the surrounding roof framing was badly burned in a fire. The fire resulted from construction defects in the installation of the chimney system.

Fire Losses Involving Improper Construction and Installation of Fireplaces and Chimneys

Author

On a cold winters night a family is gathered in the living room of their home enjoying the warmth of their fireplace.  After using the fireplace all day, they go off to bed to a nice restful sleep.  However, they are soon rudely waked by the sound of a smoke alarm in the home.  Rushing out into the cold night they can see smoke, but no flame in the home.  Outside, they can see that the chase around the fireplace chimney is burning.  The fire department is called and thankfully extinguishes the fire before it does widespread damage, however the family must leave the home for several months as repairs are made. Read More

The explosion caused considerable damaged to the home.

Explosion Investigations Uncover Answers

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The cause of an explosion can result from a chain of events in some cases. In many residential explosions and resulting fires, the facts can point to a number of potential causes. Certified fire and explosion investigators, like Warren engineers and technicians, have the experience and training to uncover and evaluate scenarios with high degrees of certainty. In some cases, like one residential explosion I investigated, the chain of events can start days before the loss.
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