Accreditation, Certification, and Certificates
This program provides a primer on accreditation, certification, and certificates for fire investigation training.
Video Profiles of Fire Investigators
In 2020, a small crew from CFITrainer.Net had the opportunity to travel the country and speak with fire investigators at all stages of their careers to get a sampling of the great diversity of this occupation. We talked about a wide variety of subjects, including their career paths, training practices, the IAAI, and their opinions on opportunities and challenges facing the profession. Our conversations were full of insights and inspiration and we're pleased to share them with you here.
We want to thank Tom Fee, Dan Heenan, Mike Schlatman, Kirk Hankins and others for helping us set up these interviews.
Assistant Fire Chief
Clark County Fire Department
Fire Marshal
Shawnee, KS
Captain of Fire Prevention
Lenexa Fire Department
Master Firefighter/Shift Investigator
Shawnee Fire Department (KS)
Fire Prevention/Arson Investigator
Downey Fire Department
Senior Fire Investigator
Fire Consulting International, Inc.
Fire Investigator
Clark County Fire Department
Fire Investigator
Peek Fire Investigations
Fire Inspector/Investigator
Chino Valley Fire District
Senior Fire Prevention Officer
Shawnee Fire Department, Kansas
Arson/Bomb Profiler/Investigator, Author
Fire Investigator
Clark County Fire Department
Fire Investigator
The Travelers Company
Fire Investigator
Fire Forensics and Technology
Paramedic
Lenexa, Kansas
Firefighter Inspector
Los Angeles, CA
Technician
Fire Forensics and Technology
Fire Investigator (Retired)
Orange County Fire Authority
Fire Investigator
Las Vegas, NV
Fire Marshal Agent
McAlester, Oklahoma
IAAI Member
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
87 Available Training Programs
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Alternative Fuel Vehicles
This module covers how CNG, LNG, LPG, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles work and their implications for fire investigation.
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.
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.
Basic Electricity
This module introduces basic electrical concepts, including: terminology, atomic theory and electricity, Ohm’s Law, Joule’s Law, AC and DC power.
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.
Charting Your Career Path In Fire Investigation
This module looks at the many ways fire investigators enter and grow in the profession through academia, the fire service, law enforcement, insurance, and engineering.
Commercial Kitchen Fires 1: Fundamentals
This module describes the design, construction, components, and operation of a commercial kitchen’s ventilation, fire suppression, and cooking fuel systems.
Commercial Kitchen Fires 2: Investigation
This module provides an investigative framework for commercial kitchen fires and discusses major commercial kitchen systems and activities as they relate to possible fire origin and cause.
Critical Evaluation and Testing of Commonly Reported Accidental Causes
This module looks at four of the most commonly-reported accidental fire causes: cooking equipment, heating equipment, electrical distribution, and smoking materials.
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.
The Deposition Part 1: Format, Content, and Preparation
This module introduces the elements of a deposition, discusses typical lines of questioning, and describes how to prepare for a deposition.
The Deposition Part 2: Questioning Tactics and Effective Responses
This module proposes effective ways to respond to the most common questioning tactics employed by opposing counsel in a deposition.
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.
Discovery in Civil Cases
This self-paced program is an introduction to discovery in civil proceedings such as fire loss claims and product defect lawsuits.
Discovery in Criminal Cases
This self-paced program is an introduction to discovery in criminal proceedings.
DNA
This module covers the foundation of DNA evidence: defining, recognizing, collecting, and testing.
Documenting the Event
This program provides a practical overview of how to perform the baseline documentation tasks that occur at every scene.
Donning and Doffing Personal Protective Equipment
Guidance on selecting, donning, and doffing PPE for post-fire scenes, focusing on respiratory protection.
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.
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Design Basics
This program explains the basic principles of how electric and hybrid vehicles are designed and work, including major systems and typical components.
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Fires
This program discusses common failure modes, evidence handling procedures, and safety protocols for electric and hybrid vehicles.
Electrical Safety
This module presents critical electrical safety practices that every fire investigator should implement at every scene, every time.
Emerging Technologies in Fire Investigation
In this program, we will look at emerging technologies that fire investigators are integrating into their daily investigative work with great success.
Ethical Duties Beyond the Fire Scene
This self-paced program examines the fire investigator's ethical duties beyond the fire scene.
Ethics & Social Media
This module discusses the intersection of social media, ethics, and the relationship of what’s legal to what’s ethical in decision-making.
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?
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.
Explosion Dynamics
This module teaches the foundational knowledge of explosion dynamics, which is a necessary precursor to investigating an explosion scene.
Fatal Fires: An Introduction
This module provides a thorough understanding of the ways an investigation changes when a fire-related death occurs.
Fatal Fires: Fire Effects on the Body
This module is a foundational introduction to how fire affects and damages the human body.
Fatal Fires: Investigation
This module discusses investigative tasks specific to fatal fires, including properly recovering and moving a body and interpreting fire effects on the body within the context of the fire scene.
Fire Chemistry
This module addresses the foundations of fire chemistry and places it within the context of fire scene investigations.
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.
Fire Dynamics in the Wildland
This module discusses foundational wildland fire terminology, factors that influence wildland fire behavior, how these factors interact to produce fire effects (and subsequently fire patterns), and new research into fire dynamics in the wildland that is challenging assumptions.
Fire Effects Part 1: Heat Effects on Fuels
Learn about the mass loss and deformation effects of heat on fuels, including definition, formation explanation, the fire scene context, and implications for fire pattern analysis.
Fire Effects Part 2: Combustion By-Products Effects
Learn how combustion by-products that cause discoloration and smoke deposition on surfaces and the implications for fire pattern analysis.
Fire Flow Analysis
This module explains fire flow path and discusses the effects of ventilation, fuel availability, and the modern fire environment on that flow path.
Fire Investigation for Fire Officers
This module provides a road map for fire officers to integrate and navigate their fire investigation duty with all their other responsibilities and describes where to obtain specific training in fire investigation.
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.
Fire Protection Systems
This module will describe the most commonly encountered fire protection systems.
Fundamentals of Interviewing
This module presents best practices in preparing for and conducting the informational interview with witnesses in the fire investigation case.
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.
The HAZWOPER Standard
This module provides introductory information on the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard – 29 CFR 1910.120.
How First Responders Impact The Fire Investigation
This module teaches first responders, including fire, police and EMS, how to make critical observations.
Ignitable Liquid Detection Canine Teams
This module helps the investigator understand how IGL canine teams are trained and worked so investigators can work in partnership with the handler to conduct searches successfully and safely.
The Impact of Ventilation in Building Structures on Fire Development
The program examines the importance of assessing the impact of ventilation on a fire.
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.
Introduction to Appliances
This module offers a basic introduction about how some selected major appliances operate.
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.
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.
Introduction to Youth-Set Fires
This program describes the scope of the youth-set fire problem, how fire investigation addresses it, and the fire investigator’s responsibilities in a youth-set fire case.
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.
Investigating Motor Vehicle Fires
This program will introduce the fire investigator to the basic methodologies use to investigate vehicle fires.
Investigating Natural Gas Systems
This module discusses investigating a fire when natural gas is present, including natural gas as an ignition and fire spread source, documentation, and system testing.
Legal Aspects of Investigating Youth-Set Fires
This module discusses the juvenile justice system, legalities of interviews and interrogations, arson statutes, search and seizure, and confidentiality.
Lithium-Ion Battery Fires
This program explains what lithium-ion batteries are, how they are constructed, where they are used, safety concerns, and how they can cause fires and explosions.
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 decided in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals.
Managing Complex Fire Scene Investigations
This module focuses on how to manage investigations that have “complicating” factors.
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.
Motor Vehicles: The Engine and the Ignition, Electrical, and Fuel Systems
This program covers the general anatomy of a motor vehicle and a description of typical components of the engine, electrical, ignition, and fuel systems.
Motor Vehicles: Transmission, Exhaust, Brake, and Accessory Systems
This program describes the function and major components of a motor vehicle’s transmission, exhaust, brake, and accessory systems.
NFPA 1033 & 921: 2022/2021 Editions Important Updates
This module discusses the highlights of important changes in these new editions and their implications for fire investigation.
NFPA 1033 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.
Personal Protective Equipment for Post-Fire Scenes
This module is “PPE 101” for all personnel who operate at post-fire scenes.
Photovoltaic Cells & Systems
This module discusses how photovoltaic systems work, how they are designed and installed, and how to safely interact with them when investigating a fire scene.
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.
Postflashover Fires
This module describes ventilation-controlled fire flow and interpretation of postflashover fire damage patterns.
The Potential Value of Electronic Evidence in Fire Investigations
This module demonstrates the investigative potential of information stored on electronic devices.
The Practical Application of the Relationship Between NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921
This module explains the relationship between NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921.
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.
Preventing Occupational Exposures to Carcinogens at the Fire Scene
In this module, you will learn more about how cancer develops, what occupational exposure risks to carcinogens exist at fire scenes, and how to better protect yourself against those exposures.
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.
Residential Electrical Systems
This module teaches the basics of the electrical power generation, distribution, and transmission system.
Residential Natural Gas Systems
This module presents the basics of natural gas and its uses and system components in a residence.
The Scientific Method for Fire and Explosion Investigation
The basics of the scientific method are deceptively simple: observe, hypothesize, test, and conclude.
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.
Site Safety Assessment
This module describes how to conduct a site safety assessment, identify potential hazards, craft a plan to mitigate risks, and act so you do not bring the hazards home.
Thermometry, Heat, and Heat Transfer
This module addresses the foundations of thermometry, including the definition of temperature, the scales used to measure temperature and much more.
Understanding Fire Through the Candle Experiments
This program presents the results of flame experiments conducted with a candle.
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.
Understanding Undetermined
This program untangles the meanings of “undetermined,” explains its correct usage, and describes how to properly report “undetermined” fire cause and classification.
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.
Vacant and Abandoned Buildings: Hazards and Solutions
This module provides an overview on how structures can become vacant and eventually abandoned.
What the Insurance Professional Needs to Know About Fire Investigation
This self-paced program provides a basic framework for structuring the management of fire cases and fire investigators.
Wildland Fires Investigation
This module illustrates how wildland fires spread, explains how to interpret burn patterns unique to these types of fires.
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.
