We have two new panel members now with us:
Mike Burroughs is Station Manager with the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Fire Investigation Support Team. He is also a Fire Safety Policy Support Officer.
Mark Ross is a Watch Manager with the London Fire Investigation Team.
So we now have FRS representation in the South West and London.
IFE's new Technical Officer, Jim Robson is also signed onto our blog for IFE administration purposes.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
FI Workshop
CFOA will be hosting a free one day fire investigation workshop at the Fire Service College on may 20th. Unfortunately it has not been posted on the CFOA website so there is no link available for you.
The purpose of the workshop is to discuss FI strategy and to inform the FI Reports Advisory Group.
David Wales and myself are each presenting and assisting in the workshop sessions. I hope some of you may be able to attend. In any event, we will report back via this blog.
The purpose of the workshop is to discuss FI strategy and to inform the FI Reports Advisory Group.
David Wales and myself are each presenting and assisting in the workshop sessions. I hope some of you may be able to attend. In any event, we will report back via this blog.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
IFE publications update
I have spoken to the IFE's newly appointed Technical Officer, Jim Robson.
He is keen to review all of the red book series. We will be discussing the issue in detail in due course. I have been putting some ideas together and am currently re-reading all the main existing books (Does anybody else find Mr Lentini's opening introduction somewhat annoying?).
So, any further ideas and suggestions are very welcome.
I will email all soon to suggest another joint Skype call this Sunday.
He is keen to review all of the red book series. We will be discussing the issue in detail in due course. I have been putting some ideas together and am currently re-reading all the main existing books (Does anybody else find Mr Lentini's opening introduction somewhat annoying?).
So, any further ideas and suggestions are very welcome.
I will email all soon to suggest another joint Skype call this Sunday.
Friday, 26 February 2010
Sleeving big style....
Came across some wiring at the Training School in Tehran which made me sit up and do some quick checks. The wire in the photo had been removed and replaced by new wiring which is feeding some construction offices. It is copper core, 2.5mm and I am wondering what the construction people were running off this supply to make this happen. I think further enquiries may be needed - for the moment, we haven't had a fire but it obviously came close!
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Training abroad
One of the things you very rapidly discover when trying to train Fire Investigators abroad is that there are a number of things that affect fire growth, spread, development and behaviour which differemarkedly from country to country. One such item is building construction, the traditional Class B structure is very rare indeed and even the type of "dry lined" and "dry wall" construction is seldom used in the Middle East - at least in those parts I am engaged in. Here in Iran the "state of the art" for light weight construction is to use PU Foam panels as curtain walls and internal divisions. It gets a layer of cement applied to both sides over a heavy metal mesh and then is faced with either a thicker layer of gypsum plaster or dressed with polished decorative stone panels, cemented and grouted in place. And they go up to more than twelve storeys with it.
Fire loads are also different, in that much of the furnishing one encounters is not foam filled, or contains very little. Certainly in the poorer quarters uphosltery tends to be done with traditional materials and a lot of natural fibre is used. One of the more amusing, from our perspective, problems has been in fitting out our real fire scenarios for the students - the curtain materials we have been supplied with don't burn. They melt, they char, the fall down - but no burn! So there are parallels, and there are some fairly interesting differences in how things behave and how the structures respond.
Another interesting matter is the electrical system. It is a hybrid in that the main system is Three Phase Three Wire with Earth Neutral. But now some parts are Four Wire and some new buildings are Four Wire, but supplied by a Three Wire supply. I shall leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what this means in terms of safety systems.
Some of the older buildings are built, managed and occupied on "traditional" lines. Fires in these areas tend to be dramatic, large and probably lethal, though we haven't as yet, been told of any. The picture below gives some idea of the Old Bazaar, Fire Safety Officers are advised to view with caution. Just in case you wondered, it covers 460 hectares....
The picture was taken on a quiet day, normally this is heaving with people, barrows and even motorcycles. And this is one of the better areas. It has certainly been an interesting experience for us and a rewarding one. The students are eager and despite the language difficulties and the problems of trying to ensure that the translation is accurate, the message does seem to be getting across successfully.
Fire loads are also different, in that much of the furnishing one encounters is not foam filled, or contains very little. Certainly in the poorer quarters uphosltery tends to be done with traditional materials and a lot of natural fibre is used. One of the more amusing, from our perspective, problems has been in fitting out our real fire scenarios for the students - the curtain materials we have been supplied with don't burn. They melt, they char, the fall down - but no burn! So there are parallels, and there are some fairly interesting differences in how things behave and how the structures respond.
Another interesting matter is the electrical system. It is a hybrid in that the main system is Three Phase Three Wire with Earth Neutral. But now some parts are Four Wire and some new buildings are Four Wire, but supplied by a Three Wire supply. I shall leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what this means in terms of safety systems.
Some of the older buildings are built, managed and occupied on "traditional" lines. Fires in these areas tend to be dramatic, large and probably lethal, though we haven't as yet, been told of any. The picture below gives some idea of the Old Bazaar, Fire Safety Officers are advised to view with caution. Just in case you wondered, it covers 460 hectares....
The picture was taken on a quiet day, normally this is heaving with people, barrows and even motorcycles. And this is one of the better areas. It has certainly been an interesting experience for us and a rewarding one. The students are eager and despite the language difficulties and the problems of trying to ensure that the translation is accurate, the message does seem to be getting across successfully.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
IFE Publications
During a recent Skype call between some of us the subject of IFE publications was raised. It is widely accepted that the IFE's 2 principle FI-related books, although still having good and useful content, are outdated in many sections. It is questionable whether this can be adequately addressed in a re-edit or whether it is time for a complete change. I would like now to court some opinion from all of us in this regard and I will raise the matter with the IFE.
So, suggestions and opinions please. Bear in mind that such a project will go nowhere if it is not commercially viable.
My thoughts are that a new, single book or manual should be written to completely supercede and replace the others. Authors should be from among ourselves and other capable practitioners and should include the authors of the previous books if willing. The content and language should be internationally applicable with subsections where necessary to address other regimes and systems. It would also be a good opportunity to firmly associate research with FI.
So, suggestions and opinions please. Bear in mind that such a project will go nowhere if it is not commercially viable.
My thoughts are that a new, single book or manual should be written to completely supercede and replace the others. Authors should be from among ourselves and other capable practitioners and should include the authors of the previous books if willing. The content and language should be internationally applicable with subsections where necessary to address other regimes and systems. It would also be a good opportunity to firmly associate research with FI.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Dear All
Just investigated a fire in the past week where the only available ignition source was a table lamp. Being reluctant to blame what should be an innocent household item I asked the homeowner for more details about the lamp.
Apparently the lamp had only been bought in the past couple of weeks from a well known high street store and it is clear from the website that it should be fitted with a standard 60 watt bulb, although the homeowner had fitted an energy efficient bulb (details of exact type not available but believe it was approximately 5 amp with advertised equivalence of a 60 watt bulb).
Not sure what effect this would have and any advice or previous experience would be useful. The room of origin had been unattended for approximately 30 minutes, prior to a fully established fire being discovered.
Initials thoughts are a faulty lamp (it came with a factory fitted 10 amp fuse that had blown) although it may be worth noting that a cat was in the room of origin and I can't discount the cat knocking over the lamp as a cause of the fire. However, I am not sure that an energy efficient lightbulb would generate sufficient heat to initiate such a serious fire in the time available (I would expect a smouldering fire to have activated the nearby smoke detectors before the fire became fully developed). The property was fitted with single point ionisation detectors, that alerted the homeowner (who was awake in another part of the property), but only after the fire had already fully established.
I have considered deliberate ignition and smokers materials but there were no smokers at the property and there was nothing suspicious about the circumstances or the people involved, other than a fire starting from what should be a relatively benign source.
Any views, opinions or experience of fires involving energy efficient light bulbs would be much appreciated.
Just investigated a fire in the past week where the only available ignition source was a table lamp. Being reluctant to blame what should be an innocent household item I asked the homeowner for more details about the lamp.
Apparently the lamp had only been bought in the past couple of weeks from a well known high street store and it is clear from the website that it should be fitted with a standard 60 watt bulb, although the homeowner had fitted an energy efficient bulb (details of exact type not available but believe it was approximately 5 amp with advertised equivalence of a 60 watt bulb).
Not sure what effect this would have and any advice or previous experience would be useful. The room of origin had been unattended for approximately 30 minutes, prior to a fully established fire being discovered.
Initials thoughts are a faulty lamp (it came with a factory fitted 10 amp fuse that had blown) although it may be worth noting that a cat was in the room of origin and I can't discount the cat knocking over the lamp as a cause of the fire. However, I am not sure that an energy efficient lightbulb would generate sufficient heat to initiate such a serious fire in the time available (I would expect a smouldering fire to have activated the nearby smoke detectors before the fire became fully developed). The property was fitted with single point ionisation detectors, that alerted the homeowner (who was awake in another part of the property), but only after the fire had already fully established.
I have considered deliberate ignition and smokers materials but there were no smokers at the property and there was nothing suspicious about the circumstances or the people involved, other than a fire starting from what should be a relatively benign source.
Any views, opinions or experience of fires involving energy efficient light bulbs would be much appreciated.
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