Thursday, November 03, 2016 | The online resource for training fire investigators

A chat with a CA Wildland Fire Investigator
This was a tough year for California. They experienced a number of large Wildland fires during drought conditions. (more)
A chat with a CA Wildland Fire Investigator
Shot in HD on location by CFITrainer.Net (4 minutes)
Accreditation, Certification, and Certificates
This program provides a primer on accreditation, certification, and certificates for fire investigation training. (more)

An Analysis of The Station Nightclub Fire
A fire occurred on the night of Feb. 20, 2003, in The Station nightclub at 211 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick, Rhode Island. (more)

Arc Mapping Basics
Arc Mapping, or Arc Fault Circuit Analysis, uses the electrical system to help reconstruct a scene, providing investigators with a means of determining the area of a fire’s origin. (more)

Basic Electricity
This module introduces basic electrical concepts, including: terminology, atomic theory and electricity, Ohm’s Law, Joule’s Law, AC and DC power. (more)

Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire
A fire occurred on the evening of June 18, 2007, in the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, SC that resulted in the deaths of nine fire fighters. (more)

Communicating the Value of Membership in the IAAI
This module will present a description of the IAAI organization. (more)

Critical Thinking Solves Cases
This program brings three highly experienced fire investigators and an attorney with experience as a prosecutor and civil litigator together for a round table discussion. (more)

Digital Photography and the Fire Investigator
The program discusses the basics of digital photography for fire investigators as well as software and editing procedures for digital images intended as evidence. (more)

DNA
DNA
This module covers the foundation of DNA evidence: defining, recognizing, collecting, and testing. (more)

Documenting the Event
This program provides a practical overview of how to perform the baseline documentation tasks that occur at every scene. (more)

Effective Investigation and Testimony
This module will discuss the techniques and strategies for conducting a proper science-based fire scene investigation and effectively presenting an investigator’s findings in court as an expert witness. (more)

Electrical Safety
This module presents critical electrical safety practices that every fire investigator should implement at every scene, every time. (more)

Ethical Duties Beyond the Fire Scene
This self-paced program examines the fire investigator's ethical duties beyond the fire scene. (more)

Ethics & Social Media
As social media has emerged as a powerful force in interpersonal communications, fire investigators are being confronted with new questions... (more)

Ethics and the Fire Investigator
Should you work for a private lab as a consultant if you are on an Arson Task Force? How about accepting discounts from the local hardware store as a “thanks” for a job well done on a fire they had last year? (more)

Evidence Examination: What Happens at the Lab?
This module takes investigators into the forensic laboratory and shows them what happens to the different types of fire scene evidence that are typically submitted for testing. (more)

Explosion Dynamics
This module teaches the foundational knowledge of explosion dynamics, which is a necessary precursor to investigating an explosion scene. (more)

Fire Dynamics Calculations - Version 2.0
The program is designed to introduce a new Palm/Pocket PC application called CFI Calculator to users and provide examples of how it can be used by fire investigators in the field. (more)

Fire Investigator Scene Safety
The evaluation of hazards and the assessment of the relative risks associated with the investigation of fires and explosions are critical factors in the management of any investigation. (more)

Fire Protection Systems
This module will describe the most commonly encountered fire protection systems. (more)

Fundamentals of Interviewing
This module presents best practices in preparing for and conducting the informational interview with witnesses in the fire investigation case. (more)

Fundamentals of Residential Building Construction
This module provides instruction on the fundamentals of residential building construction with an eye toward how building construction affects fire development. (more)

How First Responders Impact The Fire Investigation
This module teaches first responders, including fire, police and EMS, how to make critical observations. (more)

Insurance and the Fire Investigation
This program discusses how to access insurance information, understand insurance documents, ask key questions of witnesses, and apply the information learned. (more)

Introduction to Evidence
This program introduces the fire investigator to the issues related to the collection, handling and use of evidence related to a fire investigation. (more)

Introduction to Fire Dynamics and Modeling
This program takes you inside the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) archives of some of the most interesting and instructive test burns and fire model simulations they have ever conducted. (more)

Introduction to Youth-Set Fires
The program provides foundational background on the scope of the youth-set fire problem, the importance of rigorous fire investigation in addressing this problem, and the role of key agencies in the response to a youth-set fire. (more)

Investigating Fatal Fires
This module provides a thorough understanding of the ways an investigation changes when a fire-related death occurs. (more)

Investigating Fire and Explosion Incidents Involving a Line-Of-Duty Death
This self-paced program will help you understand what to expect at a fire where an LODD has occurred, what your role is, how to interact with others, and how to handle special circumstances at the scene. (more)

Investigating Motor Vehicle Fires
This program will introduce the fire investigator to the basic methodologies use to investigate vehicle fires. (more)

Investigating Natural Gas Systems
This module presents the role natural gas can play in fire ignition, fuel load, and spread; the elements of investigating a fire in a residence where natural gas is present; and the potential role the gas utility or the municipality can play an investigation. (more)

Legal Aspects of Investigating Youth-Set Fires
This self-paced program covers fundamental legal aspects of investigating youth-set fires, including the juvenile justice system, legalities of interviews and interrogations, arson statutes, search and seizure, and confidentiality. (more)

MagneTek: A Case Study In The Daubert Challenge
This program discusses the latest developments in expert testimony under the Daubert standard, including the MagneTek case recently decided in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. (more)

Managing Complex Fire Scene Investigations
This module focuses on how to manage investigations that have “complicating” factors. (more)

Motive, Means, and Opportunity:  Determining Responsibility in an Arson Case
This module uses the Motive, Means, and Opportunity case study to demonstrate how responsibility is determined in an arson case. (more)

NFPA 921 and 1033 2014 Editions: Important Revisions
This module reviews the major changes included in the documents including the use of color photos in NFPA 921 and additional material that supports the expanded required knowledge list in NFPA 1033 Section 1.3.7. (more)

NFPA1033 and Your Career
This module educates the investigator about NFPA 1033’s importance, its requirements, and how those requirements impact the fire investigator’s professional development. (more)

Physical Evidence at the Fire Scene
The program illustrates for the fire investigator, how non-traditional fire scene evidence can be helpful during an investigation. (more)

Postflashover Fires
This module introduces the postflashover topic, describes ventilation-controlled fire flow, illustrates how the damage left by a postflashover can be significantly different than if that fire was extinguished preflashover. (more)

Preparation for the Marine Fire Scene
This module lays the groundwork for understanding marine fires by covering four basic concepts that the investigator must understand before investigating a marine fire. (more)

Process of Elimination
The use of the process of elimination in the determination of a fire cause is a topic that has generated significant discussion and controversy in the fire investigation profession. (more)

Residential Electrical Systems
This module teaches the basics of the electrical power generation, distribution, and transmission system. (more)

Residential Natural Gas Systems
This module presents the basics of natural gas and its uses and system components in a residence. (more)

Search and Seizure
This module explains the principles of search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment, as contained in the amendment and according to subsequent case law, and applies them to typical fire scene scenarios. (more)

The Deposition Part 1: Format, Content, and Preparation
One of the legal proceedings that may require the fire investigator to testify is a deposition. Depositions are often related to civil proceedings, but more and more jurisdictions are using them in criminal cases. (more)

The Deposition Part 2: Questioning Tactics and Effective Responses
Deposing attorneys employ a variety of tactics to learn about the expert witness giving testimony, to try to unsettle that witness to see how he/she handles such pressure, and to probe for weaknesses to exploit. (more)

The HAZWOPER Standard
This module provides introductory information on the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard – 29 CFR 1910.120. (more)

The Impact of Ventilation in Building Structures on Fire Development
The program examines the importance of assessing the impact of ventilation on a fire. (more)

The Potential Value of Electronic Evidence in Fire Investigations
This module demonstrates the investigative potential of information stored on electronic devices. (more)

The Practical Application of the Relationship Between NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921
This module explains the relationship between NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921 (more)

The Scientific Method for Fire and Explosion Investigation
The basics of the scientific method are deceptively simple: observe, hypothesize, test, and conclude. (more)

Understanding Fire Through the Candle Experiments
This program presents the results of flame experiments conducted with a candle. (more)

Understanding the Fire Investigator’s Job: A Guide for Non-Investigators
This self-paced program explains to non-investigators the role of the fire investigator, what the fire investigator does, how the fire investigator is trained, what qualifications the fire investigator must meet. (more)

Using Resources to Validate your Hypothesis
This module will advise fire investigators on how to approach the fact-finding procedures necessary and validate a hypothesis. (more)

Vacant and Abandoned Buildings: Hazards and Solutions
This module provides an overview on how structures can become vacant and eventually abandoned. (more)

Wildland Fires Investigation
This module illustrates how wildland fires spread, explains how to interpret burn patterns unique to these types of fires. (more)

Writing the Initial Origin and Cause Report
This module presents the key elements of the initial origin and cause report and methods of clearly presenting findings in a professional manner. (more)


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