NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 62

Work in
Progress
A Strategic Vision for Moving Forward " -the
echo of the NAS report is
deliberate-the OSAC subcommittee on
fire and explosion investigation made
it clear how much forward movement
it believes the discipline requires. The
150-page document, which Crombie
describes as a " consensus report, " is the
result of an " in-depth examination of
the past and current state of fire and
explosion investigation and its relationship
to the judicial system, " according
to the authors, who include Craig Beyler
and Chris Connealy, both of whom
played roles in the Willingham saga.
While characterizing the discipline as
adolescent in its evolution, the report
also articulates recommendations for
how to improve the practice (see " Steps
Ahead, " previous page).
Among the key findings is that judges
and lawyers " need to be educated and
trained on fire science and investigation
to assure that only reliable fire investigations
and analyses are presented
to juries. " Education requirements for
investigators need to be elevated. An
accrediting standard is necessary for
fire investigation units-a recommendation
that has already resulted in the
ongoing work to write NFPA 1321. Fire
investigation units need to implement
information management practices.
And sustained funding for research
is essential for moving the discipline
forward.
Research receives significant attention
in the report. " Fire investigation,
like many other forensic science disciplines,
suffers from an inadequate
research base, " the authors wrote.
" Within the fire investigation discipline,
there is currently little rigorous scientific
study establishing the strengths
and limitations of various methods and
procedures. There is also little information
to identify sources of bias and
the impact of variations in these processes.
Existing guidance in NFPA 921
does not fully address the uncertainty,
repeatability, and limitations of the
current methodologies. " A 16-point list
of research agenda items was created,
including investigating the effects of
ventilation on fire patterns related to
fire origin; investigating the impact
of room size on the patterns that are
62 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2022
generated; and developing techniques
to limit the exposure of fire investigators
to potentially biasing information.
A number of the research items
address the process of origin determination,
an aspect of fire investigation
" that actually has had the least amount
of research put into it, " according to
Crombie. " Sometimes there's still more
art than science that goes into interpreting
burn patterns. "
Among the key findings
in the OSAC report on
fire investigation is that
judges and lawyers
" need to be educated
and trained on fire science
and investigation to
assure that only reliable
fire investigations and
analyses are presented
to juries. "
Education also gets a hard look in
the report. " It has become clear that
the current NFPA 1033 educational
requirement of a high school degree
can no longer be accepted, " the report
states. " The knowledge areas that bear
on fire and explosion investigation are
too sophisticated for investigators to
master the needed science and technology
working simply from a high school
education. Fire is a collection of complex
physical and chemical processes
that necessitates investigation by those
educated in the science and practice of
fire and explosion investigation. The day
when a BS in one of the physical sciences,
engineering, or fire and explosion
investigation is the entry-level educational
requirement needs to be realized
in the coming years. "
Crombie emphasizes the growing
technical complexity of the discipline
as an important driver of the recommended
educational requirements.
" Fire investigation is a job of putting
puzzle pieces together, and you really
have to understand how those pieces
go together before you can do an
appropriate job of interpreting what's
going on, " he says.
Watson, though, questions the realworld
utility of a four-year degree as a
way to push the profession forward. " I'm
all in favor of more education, but if you
make a bachelor's a requirement, then
you instantly disqualify a significant portion
of the fire investigation community, "
he says. " And if we're going to require
a bachelor's, then a four-year degree in
what? One of the applied sciences? Well,
that disqualifies me-my bachelor's is in
criminal justice. But I've had thousands
of hours of fire investigation training
since then. We need to keep looking at
how we define education. "
The education debate underscores a
new tug-of-war that has emerged among
those attempting to shape the profession:
not science vs. received wisdom,
but rather an academic-leaning science
approach contrasted against realworld
practitioners, the people Watson
describes as " dirty-fingernailed fire
investigators. " Those differences have
resulted in disagreements among members
of the OSAC panel, he says, though
they remain unified on their foundational
belief: that the profession's status
quo is not acceptable, and that better
processes are essential for the discipline
to mature and evolve.
That includes the fundamental
process of demonstrating for decision
makers that the practice of fire investigation
isn't just a worthy undertaking,
but an essential one, Watson says. " All
the money in the fire service goes to big
red trucks and fire prevention-that's
the sexy stuff that everybody sees, and
the fire investigation unit gets the
scraps, " he says. Watson cites one of the
largest fire departments in the country,
saying it once budgeted a total of $3,000
for the annual support of its fire investigation
unit. " What can you do with
that? Not much. Getting that support
and encouragement from inside the fire
department is just as important as educating
the legal system, or getting more
money for research, or getting rid of the
junk science. That's a goal we can all
work toward. "
SCOTT SUTHERLAND is executive editor at
NFPA Journal.
NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Fall 2022
