NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 59

recommendations was that fire investigators carry breadcrumbs
that could be dipped into suspicious-looking spots
at a fire scene, then chewed by the investigator to detect
the presence of an accelerant. " We've come a long way since
then, " he says. " Do we have a long way to go? Of course. But
I also believe the fire investigation industry is on the right
track by realizing we need more science and research to
better support our work. "
THE EMERGENCE OF NFPA 921
On February 17, 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed
by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville,
Texas. In 1992, Willingham had been tried and convicted
on three counts of capital murder in the arson deaths of his
three young children, who died in a fire at the family's home
two days before Christmas in 1991. Willingham insisted on his
innocence during the trial-he turned down the offer of a life
sentence in exchange for a guilty plea-and throughout the
appeals process. He was 36 when
he was put to death.
Shortly before Willingham's
nfpa.org/
fireinvestigations
Read the 2021 OSAC
report on the state of fire
investigation in the US.
Read a summary of the
2009 National Academy
of Sciences report on
the state of forensic
science in the US.
Read more on Phil
Crombie's presentation
on fire investigation at
the 2022 NFPA Conference
& Expo.
execution, Gerald Hurst, a noted
chemist and fire investigator,
reviewed the evidence gathered
by the state and found no
credible grounds to support a
finding of arson. " The whole case
was based on the purest form
of junk science, " Hurst said at
the time. " There was no item of
evidence that indicated arson. "
Subsequent reviews supported
Hurst's findings. In 2009, the state ordered a re-evaluation
of the Willingham case, and the Texas Forensic Science
Commission asked Dr. Craig Beyler, then technical director
at Hughes Associates (now Jensen Hughes), to conduct his
own review of the evidence. Beyler's assessment was even
more damning than Hurst's. " A finding of arson could not
be sustained, " Beyler determined. His report described key
testimony from a fire marshal as " hardly consistent with
a scientific mindset and ... more characteristic of mystics
or psychics. " The commission issued a report in 2011
recommending additional education and training for fire
investigators, as well as procedures for reviewing prior cases
of suspected arson.
The ripple effects of the Willingham case didn't stop
there. In 2013, shortly after taking over as the Texas state
fire marshal, Chris Connealy connected his office with the
Innocence Project of Texas to review more than 1,000 arson
convictions, a controversial effort that included the creation
of a scientific advisory panel made up of some of the country's
most respected arson experts. " What's happening here
isn't just in Texas, it's all across the United States, " Connealy
said at the time. " We need to make sure what we're doing
is indeed supported by up-to-date science. " While the arson
debate was just one aspect of the tangled and problematic
trial that led to the conviction and execution of Cameron
How Are We Doing?
Creating NFPA 1321, a new
accrediting standard for fire
investigation units
W
hen the Organization of Scientific Area Committees
for Forensic Science (OSAC) considered
NFPA's documents on fire investigation, it saw a
possible gap. There was NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and
Explosion Investigations, which addressed how to
conduct investigations, and there was NFPA 1033,
Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator,
which addressed what investigators needed
to know to do the job. What was missing was a document
that outlined how the fire investigation system or
agency should work-an accreditation standard.
A principle task of the 22 OSAC subcommittees
is to identify gaps in discipline-specific forensic science
standards. The OSAC subcommittee on fire and
explosion investigation proposed a new standard to
NFPA, and work was undertaken to begin writing NFPA
1321, Standard for Fire Investigation Units, currently in
progress. The new standard will cover the minimum
requirements related to the establishment, structure,
operation, and management of fire investigation units
and is scheduled for publication in 2024.
" As an accrediting standard, it will evaluate how the
work is done, " says Phil Crombie, Jr., who manages
the forensic laboratory for Travelers Insurance and is a
member of the OSAC fire investigation subcommittee.
" Most of the labs that fire investigators send their fire
debris samples to for evaluation for ignitible liquids are
accredited, with the process looking primarily at the
quality of the work and how that quality is managed.
That's the hope of NFPA 1321 for fire investigation
units. "
That agency-level rigor is essential if fire investigation
units hope to make a case for the resources they
deserve, which has traditionally been a challenge,
says Randy Watson, director of technical training for
SEA Limited and chair of the NFPA 1321 technical
committee. " The standard is designed to help push
the agencies to provide the necessary support for
equipment, training, safety, and resources for fire
investigation, " Watson says. " We need something to
put pressure on the decision makers to do their jobs to
make sure the agency is supported. "
For more information on the standard, visit nfpa.
org/1321next. -S.S.
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

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