

Monday, September 19, 2022 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fire Investigator Health and Safety: Saving Lives Through Best Practices
Instructor: Jeff Pauley, MS-OSH, IAAI-CFI and CI, MIFireE, Chairman, Health &
Safety Committee
This presentation provides attendees with an understanding of the many health and safety hazards present in the post-fire environment to help identify where and when toxic gases, vapors, and particulates are present and the dangers of these substances, along with other hazards, pose. Attendees should then understand the need to use personal protective equipment in the post-fire environment, including proper respiratory protection.
Lunch & Dinner On Your Own
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Electrical Forensics
Instructor: Taylor Bendt, MS, PE Senior Electrical Engineer, Forensics/Jensen Hughes
This presentation will cover the following topics:
- Intro to EE
- Electrical Investigations
- Investigative Technologies
- Electrical Appliances
- Special Topics:
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- Cannabis Industry Fires
- Utility Considerations
Lunch Provided/Breakfast & Dinner On Your Own
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Challenges to Expert Qualifications, Methodology, & Opinions
During both criminal and civil litigation, an expert’s qualifications, methodology, and/or opinions may be challenged. The goal of the challenge is to exclude the expert and/or their opinions from trial. These challenges may occur at a Daubert or Frye hearing or some other motion to exclude the expert or their opinions/testimony. The consequences of the exclusion could impact the case and the expert’s viability in the future. Not surprisingly, counsel, experts, and Courts throughout the country are making such expert-challenges a hot topic in the industry. This interactive block of instruction examines the framework for which such expert-specific challenges arise in both public- and private-sector fire and explosion cases, litigators’ arguments to advance them, the public- and private-sector experts’ involvement in them, and the Courts’ analytical framework to resolve them. We will address all of the participants’ knowledge and application of the scientific method.
Instructors: Trace Lawless and David Bridges
Lunch Provided/Breakfast & Dinner On Your Own
Thursday, September 22, 2022 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
8:00-12:00 NFPA 921/1033 Updates
This presentation will address guidelines and standards of care applicable to public and private sector fire and explosion origin and cause investigations, including National Fire Protection Association (“NFPA”) 1033, Standard for the Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator (2021 Ed.), NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (2022 Ed.), and their abilities or inabilities to meet those guidelines and standards of care. We will also take participants through a whole host of public- and private-sector case studies to illustrate the Court’s decisions to admit, exclude, or limit expert testimony following the challenges in fire and explosion matters.
Instructors: Trace Lawless and David Bridges
Breakfast & Lunch On Your Own
Event Flyer Available Here