Forensic Engineers and Consultants

Tag Archive: residential fire investigation

  1. The Life of a Smoke Alarm – How A Decade Flies!

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    A smoke alarm milestone birthday party!

    No kidding, I’m passionate about fire protection!  To prove it, I could tell you stories about the damage I have seen from various failures from freezes to fire pump cooling to what happens when a fire hydrant’s weep holes are clogged…. But instead, I will tell you about smoke alarms!

    Although it’s still new in my head, my home just turned 10 years old. The decade has seen the replacement of two household appliances and at least one HVAC repair… now what? A paint and décor refresh?  Maybe, but that’s not what the fire protection engineer is thinking! It’s time to replace the smoke alarms! (more…)

  2. Understanding Heat Transfer: A Guide for Fire Investigators

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    In the realm of fire investigation, understanding heat transfer is crucial. Heat transfer plays a significant role in how fires start, spread, and ultimately, how they can be analyzed and investigated. There are three primary modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. In this article, we’ll delve into each of these modes and explore examples of how fire investigators can apply this knowledge to their work. (more…)

  3. Turkey Fryers- Product Design is Critical to Consumer Safety

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    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.  (more…)

  4. Pre-Season Tune-Up for a Gas Grill

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    Statistics predict that about half grill owners will be firing them up this upcoming Memorial Day weekend [i]. Let’s look over a propane grill, as if we had just pulled it out for the grilling season, for some tips and red flags.  Not beef tips or how to get the perfect sear on your steak – safety tips!  Besides hot surfaces, a gas grill serves up hazards related to flammable gases: fires, explosions, and flash fires. (more…)

  5. Keeping the Home Fires Burning Without the Fires Burning Homes

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    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…)

  6. Improperly Used Space Heaters Can Be Dangerous

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    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…)

  7. Heating System Losses: Part Two

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    Previously, Warren posted the first installment of a series on losses associated with heating systems.  The first article looked at central forced air furnaces.  This new article will look at a common form of supplemental or secondary heat, oil filled electric radiant heaters. These heaters are commonly used to provide extra heating in areas that are lacking in central heating capacity. Another rationale for their use arises from manufacturer’s claims that the portable heating units can lower your power bill.  This is based on (more…)

  8. Spontaneous Combustion…Is it hot in here or is it just me???

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    In the old-timey Fire Triangle, you have heat, fuel, and oxygen.  Get these three together in the right quantities, and you get fire.  What if the fuel provides its own heat?  That’s spontaneous combustion, or spontaneous ignition.  NFPA921 defines this as “initiation of combustion of a material by an internal chemical or biological reaction that has produced sufficient heat to ignite the material.” (more…)

  9. Improper Hearth Extension Leads to Structure Fire

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    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…)

  10. Residential Structure Fires

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    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…)

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