Investigation of Gas and Electric Appliance Fires
Join us for our intensive 4-day, in-lab, hands-on program for fire investigators.

November 2-5, 2010

Register Early! This class is limited to the first 48 students.

Register
  • Learn how appliances and electrical components work, fail and cause fires.
  • Spend four days with Fire Findings experts on-site in their forensic laboratory.
  • Examine actual appliances and appliance components that have failed, causing fires.
  • Witness fire-causing demonstrations involving these products.
    • Gas furnaces
    • Gas water heaters
    • Gas and electric clothes dryers
    • New! Dishwashers
    • New! Ranges and microwave ovens
    • New! Refrigerators
    • New! Toasters, coffeemakers and other small appliances

Held on site at the Fire Findings Laboratories testing/training facility –
2026 Plaza Drive, Benton Harbor, Michigan, 49022.

40 minutes from South Bend (Ind.) or Kalamazoo (Mich.) airports and 2 hours from Chicago airports.

St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is located along the southern shores of Lake Michigan - a gorgeous area to visit.

Tuition is $850 per person.

Click here to see photos from the course.

 

Course Background

Investigation of Gas and Electric Appliance Fires, now in its 19th year, is maintaining the same focus in a hands-on learning environment but in an expanded four-day format. You’ll still have the same in-lab experience at Fire Findings laboratory — but now you’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn the details of how appliances and their components work, fail and cause fires. We’ll also spend more time in Q/A sessions and show you more "ins and outs" of examining appliances after fires.

CFI testing and CEU credits available.

Jim Finneran and Jack Sanderson, your long-time instructors and experts in fire origin and cause, created this investigation course to satisfy the need for hands-on technical experience that can't be achieved in a traditional classroom setting. They developed the curriculum, wrote and illustrated the course notebook and designed and built more than 25 product-failure demonstrations.

During the four-day course, you'll test yourself by examining normal, failed and tampered-with components and appliances to gain practical experience for field examinations. You'll analyze actual case studies from your instructors' files and see how X-ray examinations provide an introduction to nondestructive testing.

Your tuition also includes a notebook with more than 125 pages of original material, including failure discussions, component drawings and diagrams. Your notebook is loaded with original material, written especially for this seminar by Fire Findings Laboratories experts.

About Your Instructors

Jack L. Sanderson, Fire Findings' newsletter editor, is an independent fire investigator specializing in appliance failures. He's completed Honeywell, Whirlpool, Maycor and National Propane Association factory training. Sanderson, with more than 30 years in-the-field experience, is a nationally recognized speaker, expert and author on gas appliance fires.

James M. Finneran, who specializes in electrical fire causes, is also an independent fire investigator. Finneran has testified in major product failure fire cases throughout the United States, and he's played an instrumental role in several of the largest product recalls by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. He also serves as a representative on the NFPA 921 Technical Committee on Fire Investigations.

Finneran and Sanderson have instructed thousands of independent and public investigators, attorneys and insurance claims representatives in the area of fire origin and cause investigation. In addition, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Washington D.C., and numerous state chapters of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), have called on them to present training sessions.

Course Outline

4 Day Session
  • Days 1, 2 and 3 classes are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time.
  • Day 4 class is 8:30 to 2 p.m.

The gas appliance instruction schedule includes:

  • High- and low-order explosion demonstrations
  • Natural vs. LP gases
  • Potential gas piping failures
  • Gas regulator functions with demonstration of cut-a-way regulators
  • Excessive and inadequate pressure demonstration
  • Operation of gas valves
  • Safety shutoff demonstration
  • Ignition of gas leaking through shutoffs
  • Operation of water heaters
  • Demonstrations of water heater failure modes
  • How to examine failed water heaters
  • Investigation of possible water heater fires
  • Operation of standard and high-efficiency furnaces
  • How to examine components (high limits, fan switches, thermostats)
  • Circuit tracings
  • Demonstrations of furnace failure modes
  • How to examine failed furnaces
  • What to look for in suspected furnace fires
  • Water heaters and furnaces as incendiary devices
  • Operations of dryers
  • Examination of components (high limits, heating elements, timers)
  • Role of lint
  • Failure modes
  • Examination of failed dryers - what to look for
  • Investigation of suspected dryer fires
  • How to identify a dryer's manufacturer

  • Morning - coffee, juice and bakery items each morning.
  • Lunch and dinner on your own.
    (Noon)
  • Afternoon - Snacks and beverages each afternoon.

    The electric appliance instruction schedule includes:

  • Operation of ranges
  • Did the range come on by itself? Or did someone leave it operating? How infinite controls work, their positions post-fire and what that tells you
  • Examination of other components and how they work (heating element and self-cleaning mechanism)
  • Operation of microwave ovens, their components and fire-causing potential
  • Operation of refrigerators and automatic ice makers (What does physics have to do with this?)
  • Appreciation for the fuel in a refrigerator
  • How to examine components (compressor, condenser, evaporator coils and fans, thermostats and others)
  • Fire-causing failure modes
  • Operation of small appliances, including toasters and coffeemakers
  • Evolution of toaster designs
  • Component comparison of older vs. newer toasters
  • Toaster pastries
  • Examination of coffeemaker components and how they work
  • Evolution of coffeemaker designs
  • Operation of dishwashers
  • Examination of components and how they work (heating element, timer, limit switches and float switches)
  • The hazards of combining electricity and water
  • Power strips vs. surge protectors: What are the differences? What are the hazards?
  • Applying electrical appliance exam techniques to other products
  • Spoliation and nondestructive testing issues

    ... and more!

While you're visiting along the Lake Michigan shoreline...
The Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council has a visitor information packet just for Fire Findings’ seminar participants. To get yours, call (269) 925-6301.

We recommend the Benton Harbor Holiday Inn Express for your hotel accommodations. Holiday Inn Express is about 5 minutes from the lab and your stay includes a free “Fresh Start” breakfast, 2-line telephones and data ports in every room, an indoor pool and spa.

For $74 per night, choose from a room with 1 king or 2 double beds. King leisure suites, which also include a pullout sofa, microwave and refrigerator, are $94 per night. Add 8 percent tax.

To make your reservations, call the Benton Harbor Holiday Inn Express directly at (269) 927-4599.

Holiday Inn Express
2276 Pipestone Road
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022

(Please note: Reservations at our corporate rate may not be made on-line. Call (269) 927-4599 to obtain the special seminar rates.)

Hotel reservation deadline: 30 days in advance of the date of the respective seminar you're attending. First-come, first serve at this special rate. Don't wait too long to make your reservation after you've been confirmed for the seminar session of your choice.

IMPORTANT: Check seminar session availability before making your hotel, automobile or flight reservations. Please call us at 269/925-2200 during regular business hours to confirm seminar openings.

HURRY! This session is limited to the first 48 registrants. For more information and seminar openings, call 269/925-2200 or e-mail us at info@firefindings.com. Our mailing address is: 2026 Plaza Dr., P.O. Box 8637, Benton Harbor, MI 49023-8637.



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