Fire and Explosion Investigator

Senior Mechanical Engineer and Materials Failure Analyst

This expert has thirty-four years of experience and is a Licensed Fire Protection Engineer in 49 states and Guam. His expertise includes fire suppression and detection system design, fire hazards analyses, fire risk assessments, construction management, fire protection water distribution system evaluations, and project management. He has also provided legal testimony for fire cause and origin investigations; building and fire code analyses; life safety; slip, trip and falls; and fire protection system design, inspection, testing and maintenance.

He has experience performing fire and egress modeling to analyze the growth rates, smoke movement and travel, effects and characteristics of the fire, to evaluate the safe exit capacity of large assembly, business and educational occupancies and analyze post-fire events.

He has served as project manager, project engineer, and lead fire protection engineer on dozens of projects for public and private sector clients. His responsibilities have included serving as a primary contact between clients, planning design schedules, scheduling manpower and staffing, meeting the confines of the budget, and coordinating the fire protection engineering tasks to ensure a complete and correct fire protection design.

He is a member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Member Grade, National Fire Protection Association, NFPA Standards Council, NFPA Technical Committee on Airport Facilities, NFPA Technical Committee, Detention and Correctional Occupancies, NFPA Technical Committee on Electronic Computer Systems, NFPA Technical Committee on Health Care Emergency Management and Security, NFPA Technical Committee on Helicopter Facilities, NFPA Technical Committee on Marians and Boatyards, NFPA Technical Committee Chairman on National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (SIG-PRO) and Alternate on SIG-NAC, and NFPA Technical Committee on Subterranean Spaces.

He is a Past President of the American Backflow Prevention Association, a Past President of MO-KAN Chapter of SFPE and an ICC Certified Special Inspector for spray-applied fire resistive materials.

Senior Engineer – Complex Failures/Fires/Explosions

Summary

He is a practicing Professional Engineer, LEED Accredited Professional, Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator, and consultant, with 35 years of experience in the responsible charge of planning, designing and constructing facilities for manufacturing, commercial, chemical and heavy industrial use. His experience as a design principal and project executive includes project development, facility siting and design, building/process design and construction, code compliance, high pressure piping and vessels, energy and utility systems, ventilation, air pollution control, HVAC, structural engineering, and bulk material handling. These activities have involved all phases of conceptual planning, design engineering and procurement, construction and erection, safety and OSHA compliance.

In addition to his direct engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) background, he also maintains expertise in complex systems and equipment failure analysis, accident reconstruction, process hazard and risk assessment, thermal and stress analysis, fire and explosion investigation and construction claims consulting. His investigations include boiler, piping and pressure vessel failures and explosions, structural failures and collapses, and equipment fires and explosions.

Mechanical Engineer

This expert specializes in fire and explosion investigation and accident reconstruction. He is a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator and Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator through the National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI). In addition to passenger vehicles, his expertise in Motor Vehicle Accident Reconstruction includes heavy trucks and recreation vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, and off-highway vehicles. He is nationally certified through the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR).

This expert is a Registered Professional Engineer in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He has significant knowledge of internal combustion engines and generators, residential and commercial mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and structural water/moisture origin determination. He also is an expert in maritime industries and marine engineering, and has worked on cases involving recreational marine vessels, including power and sail operation, and propulsion and power generator systems (diesel and gasoline)

He has provided expert testimony as to his findings in various courts of law, including both local and federal venues.

Fire Test Technician

Summary

He is a Fire Test Technician with over 20 years of experience, specializing in testing and studies related to the performance of equipment and materials associated with fire and explosion related failures.  He is experienced in small and large scale testing, and evaluation to determine ignition sources, flame spread rate, failure modes, heat flux, temperature, heat transfer, smoke generation, and fire suppression. He is also knowledgeable in the evaluation of fire detection and suppression systems.  He has performed experimental and standard studies/testing related to product development.

He has provided expert testimony in the court of law.

This expert has over 40 years of experience in fire safety science, having been the first person to earn a Ph.D. in Fire Protection Engineering in 1976. He currently specializes in lending fire safety science support to investigations of fires and explosions.   He is a Principal Member of NFPA’s Technical Committee on Fire Investigations, which develops the standard guide for investigation of fires and explosions, NFPA 921. 

He is also well known for having invented the Cone Calorimeter and the large-scale (furniture) calorimeter while he was doing research for NIST.  Both of these apparatuses are based on the oxygen consumption principle and are in use in laboratories around the world.  He has authored over 300 technical publications, regularly teaches groups of fire investigators, and lectures at scientific symposia.  He is currently working on a new book on Electrical Fires and Explosions.

Highly qualified fire protection engineer with extensive experience in fire safety and accident investigation.  He has participated in multiple studies and prepared classified reports on the effects of thermal radiation from nuclear weapons on military aircraft, military facilities, and civil defense facilities.  This expert is well published in the fields of fire science applications, fire safety and standards, explosions, and thermal damage.

Over thirty years of engineering experience in electrical and electronic engineering investigations, including all aspects of the design, fabrication, production, and operation, patent infringement analysis, reverse engineering, product teardowns and failure analysis of electrical and electronic devices and products as well as computer systems, hardware and software. 

He has extensive experience in consulting and forensic engineering services for attorneys and insurance companies regarding fire origin and cause (O&C) investigations, lightning investigations, telecommunication/data network engineering, industrial automation and control products/applications and electrical product testing and compliance (UL, CE and FCC) in the design phase, and in post-design product failure analysis, including power and signal line surge analysis.

Has also served as an expert witness and forensic engineer on many cases involving a wide variety of electrical and electronic devices and applications. Some projects have focused on fire hazards, and others dealt with shock and operator safety. He has also analyzed designs in reference to user abuse and unintended operation, which is often an overlooked aspect in most product safety reviews.

A licensed Professional Engineer in Electrical Engineering and Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator with over ten years experience conducting forensic engineering investigations.  He has conducted consumer product testing and analysis in support of product development, design modification, and recall consideration. 

He conducts investigations involving electrical consumer products including appliances, tools, computers, extension cords, and surge protectors; electrically ignited fires; electrical grounding and electrical shock; electrical commercial and industrial equipment including electric motor operated pumps, fans, and HVAC units; electrical power generation and distribution, including switchgear design, installation, and maintenance; code compliance of building and special installation wiring for various sites, including marinas and fairgrounds; and conduct of work on electrical systems, including lockout/tagout procedures and other OSHA requirements.

A highly regarded educator, he taught Electrical Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy for six years, demonstrating his expertise in teaching subjects ranging from basic circuits to power distribution and system characterization, while also mentoring independent design projects. Students and colleagues alike praised his ability to distill complicated subjects into key points and to explain them in easily understandable terms, a skill appreciated by clients and juries.  His investigative approach is methodical and thorough, referencing codes and standards where appropriate, and offering opinions and conclusions based on verifiable evidence.

He has conducted investigations from initial site inspection through code and standards review, evidence and exemplar testing.   As a court-qualified expert witness, he has given trial and deposition testimony supporting his findings.

Senior Fire & Explosion Investigator

This expert is a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator, Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Professional Insurance Investigator, and a Certified Fire Investigation Instructor. He specializes in determining the origin, cause, and circumstances of structural, vehicular, and marine fires. He retired from the position of Division Chief after twenty-six years of dedicated service with the local county Fire Department, which also includes eight years in the capacity of Fire Marshal. As an independent investigator, he specializes in conducting Origin & Cause Investigations primarily for the legal and insurance community. Over the past 35 years, he has conducted over 10,000 fire investigations.

This expert was an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy and developed a 56 hour training program with emphasis on NFPA 921 & NFPA 1033 which qualifies attendees to become Certified Fire Investigators. He has accumulated in excess of 4500 hours of training in the fields of Fire Investigation, Fire Protection, Fire Service Management, Fire Ground Operations and Law Enforcement.

This expert holds expert witness qualifications in Fire Origin & Cause Investigations, Fire Suppression, and Fire Protection. He has qualified as an expert in various Circuit & Federal Court venues.