IAAI 73rd Annual ITC in Jacksonville Marine Fire Investigation & NFPA 1033

The International Association of Arson Investigators Training Conference & Expo will be in Jacksonville, Florida this year between April 10 and April 15, 2015. Anyone with an interest in fire investigations should attend as the IAAI always does a good job at educating its members. International Association of Arson Investigators (iaaiitc.com)

Come see a marine electrical expert from Cote Marine LLC, a Naval Architect/Marine Engineer from Rimkus, and an Accredited Marine Surveyor from Knox Marine Surveyors and Consultants at 1:00 Monday afternoon in Ballroom 6 for the presentation titled Boat and Ship Systems, Construction, and Structures for the Fire Investigator

This session will take a relatively deep dive into the technical nature of boats and ships with respect to fire and explosion investigations. NFPA 1033: Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator is quite clear that the fire investigator should have a minimum level of requisite knowledge regarding the subject structure, facility, vehicle, conveyance, etc. before undertaking the assignment (see NFPA 1033 Chapter 04; NFPA). While there are many very good to excellent marine fire investigators working in the United States, we all too often see fire investigation participants who are like fish out of water when it comes to boat and ship fires.

Spending a lot of time on a boat does not qualify one as a marine fire expert any more than driving a bus would make one a vehicle fire expert. Likewise, reading Chapter 29 on marine fire investigations in NFPA 921 also does not make one an expert on marine fires any more than reading Chapter 27 would make one an expert on wildfire investigations (if this were the case, we would not need IAAI ITCs!)

This training session will be led by marine professionals from three different disciplines, with decades of experience actually working on various types of boats and ships on a daily basis (before they catch fire). All three professionals also have long been providing marine technical expertise to fire and explosion investigators working marine losses.

The course content will go far beyond the basics as outlined in Chapter 29 of NFPA 921: Guide to Fire and Explosion Investigations and will help familiarize fire investigators and fire fighters with what can be expected when working a boat or ship fire, what pitfalls to avoid and where else to acquire any missing requisite information for their particular task at hand.

We hope to see you in Ballroom 6 on Monday afternoon. Don't forget to bring your most excellent questions!