NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 58
Work in
Progress
Thirty years after the arrival of NFPA
921 and the formal introduction of
science into the codes and standards
pertaining to the practice, the field of fire
investigation has matured significantly
in its sophistication and science-based
rigor, thanks in part to a growing suite
of related standards. A companion
document, NFPA 1033, Standard for
Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator,
first published in 1987, provides
detail on the training and knowledge
necessary for investigators. A document
currently being created, NFPA 1321, Standard
for Fire Investigation Units, will
cover the minimum requirements for the
establishment, structure, operation, and
management of fire investigation units
(see " How Are We Doing? " on facing
page). The new standard is scheduled for
publication in 2024.
Despite those important steps-as
well as the addition of a growing body
of applied research and the emergence
of technological tools unimaginable
three decades ago-fire investigation is
still regarded by some in the fire community
as lagging. That view regards
the field as a weak link in need of new
requirements, additional rigor, more
specialized science, and an array of
essential resources, including funding
for further research. A report published
last year by the Organization of Scientific
Area Committees for Forensic
Science, or OSAC, acknowledged the
progress made by the field of fire investigation
while making it clear how far
it has yet to go. " The field of fire and
explosion investigation can now be said
to be in its adolescence, " the report's
authors wrote, " but much work is
required to bring it to maturity. "
Watson, one of nine authors of the
OSAC report, doesn't entirely agree
with the use of " adolescence " as a
descriptor for his profession. " I think
that's maybe a little unfair, " he says.
" But I think we stayed in our infancy
longer than we had to because of all
that anecdotal information going
around. " He describes the first book he
was able to find on fire investigations,
published in 1946. Among the volume's
The house in Corsicana, Texas, that was the site of a deadly 1991
fire that led to the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for
murder in 2004. Fire investigation experts have discredited the
state's finding that Willingham intentionally set the fire that killed
his three young children.
58 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2022
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Fall 2022
Contents
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 1
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - Contents
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 3
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - Cover3
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