fire | Warren Forensics

Tag Archive: fire

Keeping the Home Fires Burning Without the Fires Burning Homes
November 29, 2022 3:17 pm Leave a Comment
As the Holiday Season approaches in the United States, it is a good time to take a look at several ways that the festivities can go awry.

For people that have cool or cold weather during winter, the thought of a warm, cozy home can be very comforting. However, many of the things that come to mind can turn the season on its head very quickly. Candles are a great example of a decorating trend with potentially serious side effects. The good folks at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) tell us that more than one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles, with more than two of every five decoration fires occurring because decorations were placed too close to a heat source. One fire I responded to as a firefighter occurred because (more…)
Improperly Used Space Heaters Can Be Dangerous
October 1, 2022 2:28 pm Leave a Comment
As the temperature outside slides from the cold to the “bitter” cold range on the thermometer, most people tend to turn the heat on inside their home. Some homes, however, do not have whole house heat or sufficient heating capacity and therefore the occupants may rely on portable space heaters. Portable space heaters, used properly, can be a good choice to warm a small area of a home. Unfortunately, while they can warm your cold and tingling hands and feet, they can also warm nearby materials to the point of ignition. (more…)
Heavy Machinery Fires Caused by Hydraulic Hose Failures
July 14, 2021 4:34 pm Leave a Comment
Heavy machinery fires are often caused by hydraulic hose failures. Pressurized hydraulic fluid escaping from a failed hose assembly can be atomized into a fine spray that can be ignited by heated engine surfaces such as the engine exhaust or turbocharger.

Hydraulic hoses near the engine compartment of an excavator that burned.

Hydraulic hoses often fail due to age and wear, requiring regular inspection and replacement of hydraulic hoses to prevent failures. Hoses may also fail if they are misrouted. Misrouting can lead to the hose being pinched or causing it to chafe against a sharp metal surface. (more…)
Improper Hearth Extension Leads to Structure Fire
March 25, 2021 3:54 pm Leave a Comment
The fire service affords you the opportunity to witness and observe things that a lot of engineers and even most people do not get the chance to see. An example of this is the situation where extended elevated temperatures combined with poor construction techniques to result in a structure fire.

I have personally observed several occasions where a structure fire was initiated due to improper construction of the fireplace hearth extension. The most recent one followed a multi-day cold snap, at least by South Carolina standards. The thermometer read 17 degrees F as I drove to the call of smoke in a residence (more…)
Residential Structure Fires
January 25, 2021 2:05 pm Leave a Comment
The winter season is well underway in the United States, with the Christmas and New Years holidays behind us and the depths of cold weather here for the duration. With winter, many people spend more hours indoors as compared to the summer when outdoor activities ramp up. With more time spent indoors, it is somewhat intuitive that the use of electricity would increase as well.

Electricity is one of the most influential utilities in our daily life. Much of what modern societies rely on to get through a normal day requires electricity. Have you ever been in a slight panic looking for an electric outlet when your cell phone is below 10% charge? Or how many times do we all attempt to turn on a light switch when we enter a room during a known power outage from sheer habit? Even our personal transportation which has relied on gasoline for roughly 100 years is shifting toward electric automobiles. (more…)
Not Your Father’s House Fire
January 28, 2019 3:51 pm Leave a Comment
Remember the good old days when our homes were built with only lumber, dry-wall, and roofing? Me neither. However, we talk about ‘modern’ construction materials like this is a new phenomenon. The truth is ‘modern’ construction materials started sneaking into homes over fifty years ago. It’s not only construction materials that have changed: a century ago, we furnished our houses with wood, cloth, metal, and glass. Today, it’s plastics, foams, and coatings.

(more…)
Firefighter Burned Due to Improper Industrial Oven Design and Operation
August 28, 2015 9:37 am Leave a Comment
Industrial ovens and furnaces are used in many manufacturing processes. One use of industrial ovens is for drying and curing coatings on fabrics.

We investigated a fire loss involving a very large oven, 10 stories high, used for curing coatings on an industrial fabric. A young firefighter was burned in response to this fire, one of a string of many fires that had occurred involving the oven.

(more…)
Evaluating the Potential for “Victim” Holes Not Caused By Lightning in CSST
July 14, 2015 9:53 am Leave a Comment
One area that we have found particularly interesting are fires involving Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST). CSST is a material used to plumb fuel gas inside structures. It is used as an alternative to traditional black steel pipe or copper tubing. The stainless steel tube of CSST, in certain circumstances, will perforate when subjected to electrical arcing, including that due to local lightning strikes. The escaping fuel gas from these perforations has obvious implications as to causing fires. (more…)
Forensic Examination of Losses that Include Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s)
May 7, 2015 2:17 am Leave a Comment
Many modern machines and processes are controlled by Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s). PLC’s are essentially computers that have the ability, properly connected and programmed, to interface with the outside world and control the actions of a machine like a robot or conveyor. The PLC has a processor for processing the user programmed logic, and also has input / output (I/O) wiring provisions for both analog (e.g. temperatures and pressure transducers) and digital (e.g. limit switches and indicator lights) devices. (more…)
Top Ten Photography Tips for Field Investigators
November 17, 2014 9:51 am Leave a Comment
Here at Warren, we often rely on photographs provided by our clients to make preliminary assessments of incoming cases. Since we see quite a few client provided photos, and since we take plenty of photographs ourselves, we’ve developed an eye for what makes a good and useful field investigation photograph. We’ve also struggled with a few bad ones from time to time. Good photographs always end up saving time and money. To that end, here are ten tips to help you take better photographs every time. (more…)

Type ofLoss

Not sure what you're looking for?
Browse All

Select Loss Category

Select Sub-Category (choose category first)

View Now