IAAI WA State Chapter9116 East Sprague Ave. #186Spokane Valley, WA 99206-2301

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDTACOMA, WA

PERMIT NO. 462

T H E W A S H I N G T O N S T A T E C H A P T E R I A A I

IN THIS ISSUE:

President’s letter . .pg . 2

Fall training seminar . . . . . . . . .pg . 2

Letter from the Editor . . . . . . . . . .pg . 3

Home fire sprinklers . . . . . . .pg . 3

Communicationetiquette . . . . . . . . .pg . 4

Reviews . . . . . . . . .pg . 6

AGM 2011 . . . . . . .pg . 7

International Association of Arson Investigators Washington State Chapter - Fall 2011

If you’re looking for a Fire Investigator, go to iaai-wa.org and click on the “Find an Investigator” button.

To submit an article for consideration send it to NoelP@mde.com Articles need not be long or technical; they should be of interest for professionals working in the field of fire.

The Arson Reporter needs articles . Will the cost of mandatory sprinklers in homes put a damper on building plans

FIRESPRINKLERS

“t”2 F A L L 2 0 1 1 A R S O N R E P O R T E R W W W . I A A I - W A . O R G

Washington Chapter IAAI board member contacts

Robert Heacock – IAAI President Washington Chapter 21Rheacock@gaic.com

Bill Hewett – 1st Vice Presidentbhewett@co.whatcom.wa.us

Randy Fehr – 2nd Vice PresidentRandyFehr@ci.enumclaw.wa.us

Noel Putaansuu – Immediate Past PresidentNoelP@mde.com

Mike Lee – DirectorMike.Lee@vrfa.org

Adam Farhnam - Directorafarnham@exponent.com

Terry Brown - Directorbrowninvest@comcast.net

Mark Crowthers - Directormcrowthers@comcast.net

Mike Mikela - Secretary/Treasureriaai-wa@hotmail.com

International IAAI2151 Priest Bridge Drive, Suite 25Crofton, Maryland 21114Toll Free 1-800-468-IAAI (4224)Phone: 410-451-FIRE (3473)

Washington Chapter IAAI9116 E . Sprague Ave ., #186Spokane Valley, WA 99206-3601 (509) 728-6894 WA Chapt . Tax ID 91-1041379 501 (c) 3

McBride Construction Resources

Phone: (260) 283-7121Fax: (260) 284-5670

224 Nickerson St.Seattle, Washington98109-1822

Reviews:cont.From the Washington Chapter President:

Our Chapter newsletter ‘Arson Reporter’ was recently recognized by IAAI for ‘Outstanding Publication’. It takes a great deal of effort to include quality content and to have a professional look. Congratulations to Chapter past-president and editor Noel Putaansuu and all who have contributed to this first rate publication, and their well deserved recognition from IAAI. Our Annual May training conference in Leavenworth, in conjunction with North West Fire Investigators (NWFI), was another success. We look forward to our 2012 training and our continued relationship with NWFI.

Our own Annual General Meeting (AGM) and training has been moved from the May timeframe to avoid conflicting with the IAAI AGM. This year it will be held October 27-28 in Spokane Valley at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Training Facility. There are different speakers involved, but this year’s conference will feature David B. Givens, PH.D. Director, Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane presenting ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’.

Dr Givens is an Adjunct Professor at Gonzaga University, and has extensive experience in the field of non-verbal communication. Our AGM will also include elections for 2012 officers, and those nominations are listed in this newsletter. See the training details and registration form in this newsletter or our Chapter website for more information.

Mike Makala has agreed to become Chair of our CFI Committee, and is working on scheduling a Courtroom testimony class for early 2012. I appreciate the path that has been paved by Noel Putaansuu during his last two years in the President’s position. Our Chapter remains strong, dynamic, and active, with quality training opportunities being provided. Any suggestions for future training can be directed to myself or any Chapter officer.

I am pleased to be serving the Chapter during 2011, and look forward to our future activities

Robert Heacock

The Chapter 21 Annual General Meeting and Training Meeting was held October 6th and 7th in Olympia, Washington. The venue was a few minutes from I-5 and regionally centered along the western side of the state. The location was close to the State Fire Marshal’s office and resulted in two speakers from that office.

I would like to thank the speakers who volunteered to present. Every speaker paid for their time and transportation to speak at this event and deserve the grati-tude of the association.

The course materials were handed out to attendees and presenters on a thumb drive with the distinctive Chapter logo. All the information provided by speakers was included in digital format. This saved on printing costs and logistics.

The testing for the training was completed through the CFItrainer.net system. Deb Bell of the International office provided PIN numbers on cards for attendees to log in to the testing. At the end of the testing the attendee could print out the training certificate.

Craig Evezich and Mike MorganThese two seasoned attorneys presented several civil cases and the various approaches from the Plaintiff and Defense. They discussed the process of communication, which methods were discoverable and those that were not. How good cases can go bad and what the public side can do to assist the civil side and vice versa. It was good to hear the attendees as pointed questions were raised by the attendees and answered by the speakers.

Fire and Materials Conference 2011Jan 31-Feb. 2 2011This is an international conference of fire science professionals, and a large percent-age of the attendees present at the event. Featured are 70 papers from 14 countries. The speakers give 10-20 minute power point presentations of a research project or case review. An abstract of each paper is published in a handbook, and the full paper is presented on CD. The conference draws speakers and attendees from across the globe. The published information is later available by mail order. For information on this conference see the web sitehttp://www.intersciencecomms.co.uk

Laboratory testing and failure analysis,chemical analysis and SEM capabilities

www.caseforensicscorp.com

SEATTLE & PORTLAND &

DENVERToll Free 800-711-0704

By Noel PutaansuuAGM 2010

7

Featuring David B. Givens PH.D., Direc-tor, Center for Nonverbal Studies present-ing “Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews”

Thursday, October 278:30 Registration Opens 9:00 AM – 12:00 ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’12:00 PM – 1:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 PM - 3:00 ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’ continued

3:00 - 4:00 Washington Chapter #21 Annual General Meeting and elections

Friday, October 288:30 Registration Opens 9:00 AM – 12:00 ‘Chasing your own – A look at Firefighter Arson’ by Bill Hewett, Assistant Chief of Whatcom County Fire District 8 12:00 PM – 1:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 – 4:00 ‘Arson, the Mind and the Motive’ by Glenn Johnson CFI of Q.Global Fire Investigations.

Fall Training SeminarDate changed to October 27-28, 2011 - Spokane Valley, WA

The categories are defined:• Fire Safety Engineering• Fires in Buildings• Cables and other Electro-technical Applications• Furniture and Furnishings • Wildland fires and the Built Environment Interface• Fire Dynamics• Transportation• Fire Investigation• Flame Retardants and new FR Applications• Modeling

Locally known presenters:• James Quintere• Vytenis (Vyto) Babrauskas• Joe Urbas• Vincent Brannigan• Ronald Hopkins• Steven Carman• Paul Way• Mike Fitz

In a murder,

you have a dead

body. In an assault or

robbery, you have a

witness and a com-

plainant. But in an

arson, you first have

to prove it was arson.

Second, you have to

prove that a specific

person did it.

David Ziegler

“

Review:

This conference alternates between in San Francisco and the UK each year.Download the registration form at www .iaai-wa .org

Vyto BabrauskasTopics in the Study of Electrical Fires and ExplosionsDr. Babrauskas was the opening speaker and presented on the current state of the science of electrical fires and arc initiated explosions. His presentation and content was high level and informative. It was great to have Dr. Babrauskas speaking at this event.

Mike Fitz P .E.The Burning of America Discussed the failure of building codes and engineering practices that cause property damage and fatality. Mr. Fitz pointed out how some current building practices and codes resulted in increased damage and life safety hazards. A few examples presented included: Bird blocking attic vents above windows.

When a fire vents out of a window it often impinges on the bird blocking vents above the window and spreads into the attic. These attic vents are a double edged sword in that without them it is difficult to vent a cathedral ceiling and without venting the sheathing and roof trusses tend to rot. With the vents fire is able to travel up and enter into the attic.

The practice and code requirement of applying gypsum sheet rock to the interior garage walls and ceiling adjacent to the living spaces and allowing the remaining ceiling and wall spaces to remain with exposed wood was examined.

Often an egress route for a second floor bedroom is by way of the garage roof. When fires happen within the garage or in a vehicle parked near the garage, the exposed wood increases the fire growth vs. the fire protection qualities of the sheetrock covering.

Fire sprinkler systems for all residences were examined.

While a good practice for new construction and multifamily housing, the concept of installing fire sprinklers in older mobile homes, motor homes and even an older house is often not cost feasible.

Kevin Lewis of CASE ForensicsWhen Exemplar Testing is NecessaryMr. Lewis presented on a few cases involving bathroom fan failures. His presentation included the tactics of the defense team and the procedures to analyze the crimp connections. The slides included cross sections of metallurgical grain growth in heated electrical connections.

Kevin Lewis of CASE Forensics Atlas Foundry ExplosionMr. Lewis provided good video, diagrams and props to describe the events prior to the propane leak, the ignition of the vapor cloud, firefighting efforts and staging, the BLEVE, the investigation and the findings. Commentary was provided by other experts and fire department personnel giving multiple views and perspective.

Ken DellsiteFire Standards Compliant (FSC) CigarettesThe Washington State Fire Marshals office provided Mr. Dellsite to discuss the labeling of Fire Safe Cigarettes. Fire Safe Cigarettes are required to have an FSC printed near the bar code of the cigarette pack. Before a cigarette can be sold in Washington State, the package must be reviewed by the Sate Fire Marshals office.

Glenn JohnsonElectricity and Fire InvestigationThis short course looked at the three ways electricity can cause a hostile fire and gave the investigator an overview of the question ‘Electricity - Cause or Victim?’

Mr. Johnson of Q Global prepared and delivered a short version of his lengthier course. He touched on several commonly encountered fire events involving electrical outlets and appliances. His content was easy to understand for all in attendance and provided good discussion topics.

Michael Schoenecker & Trevor Newberry Vehicle Fire DebateMr. Newberry of Case Forensics and Mr. Shoenecker of MDE provided photographs and case review from several different vehicle fires. Each presented a case from their own point of view and then the others presented what tactics and questions would be raised by the opposition. It was great to see the hypothesis be tested by the opponent and reviewed by the peers of attendees.

Dale Mann The Self Heating Process / Spontaneous CombustionMr. Mann of MDE presented on the chemistry of self heating. This is a problem of chemistry and heat. The presentation included dryer fires, vegetation stacks, chemical mixing and methods to determine the lowest temperature and geometry for thermal runaway.

AJ Wilson, Executive Director of the IAAI Speaking at the AGMMr.Wilson traveled from across the nation to address the chapter at the dinner event. Mr. Wilson has been instrumental in getting the IAAI running on the right path. At this time he has moved on to another organization. It was a pleasure to have him attend the Chapter’s event.

36 W W W . I A A I - W A . O R G

Editor’s message: by Noel Putaansuu

The Arson Reporter is a publication of the Washington Chapter 21 of the International Association of Arson Investigators. It is intended to be a quarterly publication. The board tries to send it out to all members who have paid dues. The two primary problems in getting the Arson Reporter out-the-door are cost and content. Fewer people are getting a newspaper delivered to their doorstep. Data is difficult to find, however, people I talk to and my local neighborhood see less and less home delivery of printed periodicals. There are various market and technological forces

at work. Where do you get your news? Is it specific to your experience and work tasks? The chapter is trying to grow and match the needs of the members. The chapter has a website, facebook, and google groups. It publishes the Arson Reporter on the internet and printed media. The Arson reporter is the primary

route to dispense information such as training events , code changes, issues faced by members, and on occasion there are informative articles. It appears that the Arson Reporter is headed in the proper direction. The Washington Chapter received an Award for Outstanding Publication at the International Annual

General Meeting for 2011. The Chapter 21 board is committed to providing two printed and two electronic copies per year. The Chapter is also sponsoring a Facebook page and Google groups page. The Facebook page is open to the public. The Google groups is a more restricted, the gatekeeper is pyrotek@aol.com. All in all, the chapter supports people working in fire investigation by promoting discussion and topics of interest. To see our page, go on Facebook, search “iaai-wa” and press the like button Noel Putaansuu- Arson Reporter EditorInternational Association of Arson Investigators Chapter 21, Washington StateImmediate Past President

Reviews:

F A L L 2 0 1 1 A R S O N R E P O R T E R

A change to the International Residential Code may make fire sprinklers mandatory in new homes. But builders think the measure will be far too costly. Who is right? Beginning in January 2011, a change to the International Residential Code (IRC) aims to reduce that number by making fire sprin-klers mandatory in all new single-family residences. New systems integrate the plumbing system with the sprinkler system and use flexible PEX tubing. This integration of new meth-ods and products makes sprinkler systems less costly. It is well validated that sprinklered resi-dences result in lives saved, less damage and lower dollar loss in insurance claims

resulting from fire. The debate comes as the required cost; building developers say an additional $5000 is required for sprinkled residences and the minor reduction in insur-ance premiums does not recover the cost quickly enough. A cost assessment study was conducted and is available athttp://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Re-search/FireSprinklerCostAssessment.pdf This study indicates that the average cost was $1.61 per sprinklered square foot (SSF). Home insurance policies included in the study offer up to a 10% premium discount. The study found the actual savings of 3.4% when comparing 2,500 square foot residenc-es with and without sprinklers.

Home FIRE SPRINKLERS

by Noel Putaansuu

54 F A L L 2 0 1 1 A R S O N R E P O R T E R W W W . I A A I - W A . O R G

by Noel PutaansuuCommunicationEtiquette

Pencil, Pen or...In simple terms pens are permanent and pencils are temporary. Pencils can be erased. Few notes are error free and a correction should include crossing out the error, the initials of the person crossing the error out and then the revision. Erasing is at times considered inappropriate by some. Choosing a pencil over a pen can be questioned later, however, choosing a pen makes the notes a permanent record. Heck, the pen is often mightier than the sword.

New pens on the market such as Livescribe blend voice recording and digitizing notes. When used with a special notebook or paper the notes can be printed. More information can be found on www.livescribe.com. When downloading the information from the pen to the computer the audio can be referenced by the notes taken at the time. While this is great technology, I often loose pens during the day. I loan them to people and they get lost in the car. At $99 and up, that can become a costly tool to loose. Also,

there are legal issues of recording voice without permission. While an old fashioned pen is the preferred note taking tool, one has to admire what the pen can become with added technology. But, what it really comes down to....whether you use a pencil or pen, there’s no substitute for taking good notes.

E-mail, voice, text, and letter each has its place in the legal world of fire forensics, and each has its weaknesses and advantages. Choosing your medium wisely could mean the difference in effective and ineffective communication strategy.

E-mail is discoverable in certain courts so care should be taken to remove opinions from general e-mail correspondence. Think, “Would I like to see that come up in deposition?” when reviewing your outgoing e-mails. Also, think how you would feel receiving this e-mail. Adjusting the tone to be friendly and supportive may be beneficial in the long run.

Voice Communications are non-discoverable by the courts unless notes are taken. One on one phone calls are good for discussion; there is no record other than the phone number, time of day and length of call. One on one phone calls are not good for agreements because it is one person’s word vs. another person’s word as to what was agreed to.

Text messaging is growing in usage, and texts are good for use in meetings where taking or placing a call might interrupt the proceedings. Searching a suspect’s phone for outgoing messages may prove beneficial. Text messages are not necessarily discoverable, in that, how would you print one out?

Letter or snail mail has been used since paper was being written upon. Legal documents, reports and many other documents are in the paper form, where copying is common place.

Social media networks now have even further added to the variety of communication paths. “Jon Doe is difficult to reach on the phone, however, he spends time on Facebook at night, so send him a message through Facebook, that’s how I get in contact with him.”

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google+ and many others have messaging options. Many are not discoverable in civil cases, however in criminal cases the person of interest could be posting clues in his/her status update or sending messages of interest to friends that are often time stamped.

Messaging through social media sites among professionals is growing in usage. It is often easier to find someone by typing their name and sending a message, than locating that person’s contact info (i.e. e-mail or phone number).

People differ on mixing formats. It is generally considered bad practice to return a phone call to discuss an issue with an e-mail, as a non-discoverable medium now has a discoverable reference. For example, here’s a telephone message

call to an attorney: “We should discuss the furnace in this fire case.” Responded to with an e-mail: “Tell me what the manufacturer said about the furnace.”

This has potential to compromise the case. At the very least it implies, that at the time, the furnace manufacturer was being talked to and something was worth talking about. During a deposition the file is reviewed by opposing counsel. Items such as an e-mail question may be found and result in a new series of questions.

As a general rule of courtesy and common sense: • Correspondence should be returned promptly within the same media, i.e. voice for voice, e-mails for e-mails, text for text.

• Keep e-mails for hard points like meeting schedules, photos, and fact based reports.

• Avoid opinions in e-mails and review them as if you are receiving them. Often the tone of an e-mail implies as much as the message itself.

Lastly, if an e-mail says that there is an attachment, and you find that the attachment is not included or is not readable, it is important to respond that the information was not received as intended.

Livescribe?Note taking for Investigators

In the litigating world, the medium of communication is as important as the communication itself.

Vyto BabrauskasTopics in the Study of Electrical Fires and ExplosionsDr. Babrauskas was the opening speaker and presented on the current state of the science of electrical fires and arc initiated explosions. His presentation and content was high level and informative. It was great to have Dr. Babrauskas speaking at this event.

Mike Fitz P .E.The Burning of America Discussed the failure of building codes and engineering practices that cause property damage and fatality. Mr. Fitz pointed out how some current building practices and codes resulted in increased damage and life safety hazards. A few examples presented included: Bird blocking attic vents above windows.

When a fire vents out of a window it often impinges on the bird blocking vents above the window and spreads into the attic. These attic vents are a double edged sword in that without them it is difficult to vent a cathedral ceiling and without venting the sheathing and roof trusses tend to rot. With the vents fire is able to travel up and enter into the attic.

The practice and code requirement of applying gypsum sheet rock to the interior garage walls and ceiling adjacent to the living spaces and allowing the remaining ceiling and wall spaces to remain with exposed wood was examined.

Often an egress route for a second floor bedroom is by way of the garage roof. When fires happen within the garage or in a vehicle parked near the garage, the exposed wood increases the fire growth vs. the fire protection qualities of the sheetrock covering.

Fire sprinkler systems for all residences were examined.

While a good practice for new construction and multifamily housing, the concept of installing fire sprinklers in older mobile homes, motor homes and even an older house is often not cost feasible.

Kevin Lewis of CASE ForensicsWhen Exemplar Testing is NecessaryMr. Lewis presented on a few cases involving bathroom fan failures. His presentation included the tactics of the defense team and the procedures to analyze the crimp connections. The slides included cross sections of metallurgical grain growth in heated electrical connections.

Kevin Lewis of CASE Forensics Atlas Foundry ExplosionMr. Lewis provided good video, diagrams and props to describe the events prior to the propane leak, the ignition of the vapor cloud, firefighting efforts and staging, the BLEVE, the investigation and the findings. Commentary was provided by other experts and fire department personnel giving multiple views and perspective.

Ken DellsiteFire Standards Compliant (FSC) CigarettesThe Washington State Fire Marshals office provided Mr. Dellsite to discuss the labeling of Fire Safe Cigarettes. Fire Safe Cigarettes are required to have an FSC printed near the bar code of the cigarette pack. Before a cigarette can be sold in Washington State, the package must be reviewed by the Sate Fire Marshals office.

Glenn JohnsonElectricity and Fire InvestigationThis short course looked at the three ways electricity can cause a hostile fire and gave the investigator an overview of the question ‘Electricity - Cause or Victim?’

Mr. Johnson of Q Global prepared and delivered a short version of his lengthier course. He touched on several commonly encountered fire events involving electrical outlets and appliances. His content was easy to understand for all in attendance and provided good discussion topics.

Michael Schoenecker & Trevor Newberry Vehicle Fire DebateMr. Newberry of Case Forensics and Mr. Shoenecker of MDE provided photographs and case review from several different vehicle fires. Each presented a case from their own point of view and then the others presented what tactics and questions would be raised by the opposition. It was great to see the hypothesis be tested by the opponent and reviewed by the peers of attendees.

Dale Mann The Self Heating Process / Spontaneous CombustionMr. Mann of MDE presented on the chemistry of self heating. This is a problem of chemistry and heat. The presentation included dryer fires, vegetation stacks, chemical mixing and methods to determine the lowest temperature and geometry for thermal runaway.

AJ Wilson, Executive Director of the IAAI Speaking at the AGMMr.Wilson traveled from across the nation to address the chapter at the dinner event. Mr. Wilson has been instrumental in getting the IAAI running on the right path. At this time he has moved on to another organization. It was a pleasure to have him attend the Chapter’s event.

36 W W W . I A A I - W A . O R G

Editor’s message: by Noel Putaansuu

The Arson Reporter is a publication of the Washington Chapter 21 of the International Association of Arson Investigators. It is intended to be a quarterly publication. The board tries to send it out to all members who have paid dues. The two primary problems in getting the Arson Reporter out-the-door are cost and content. Fewer people are getting a newspaper delivered to their doorstep. Data is difficult to find, however, people I talk to and my local neighborhood see less and less home delivery of printed periodicals. There are various market and technological forces

at work. Where do you get your news? Is it specific to your experience and work tasks? The chapter is trying to grow and match the needs of the members. The chapter has a website, facebook, and google groups. It publishes the Arson Reporter on the internet and printed media. The Arson reporter is the primary

route to dispense information such as training events , code changes, issues faced by members, and on occasion there are informative articles. It appears that the Arson Reporter is headed in the proper direction. The Washington Chapter received an Award for Outstanding Publication at the International Annual

General Meeting for 2011. The Chapter 21 board is committed to providing two printed and two electronic copies per year. The Chapter is also sponsoring a Facebook page and Google groups page. The Facebook page is open to the public. The Google groups is a more restricted, the gatekeeper is pyrotek@aol.com. All in all, the chapter supports people working in fire investigation by promoting discussion and topics of interest. To see our page, go on Facebook, search “iaai-wa” and press the like button Noel Putaansuu- Arson Reporter EditorInternational Association of Arson Investigators Chapter 21, Washington StateImmediate Past President

Reviews:

F A L L 2 0 1 1 A R S O N R E P O R T E R

A change to the International Residential Code may make fire sprinklers mandatory in new homes. But builders think the measure will be far too costly. Who is right? Beginning in January 2011, a change to the International Residential Code (IRC) aims to reduce that number by making fire sprin-klers mandatory in all new single-family residences. New systems integrate the plumbing system with the sprinkler system and use flexible PEX tubing. This integration of new meth-ods and products makes sprinkler systems less costly. It is well validated that sprinklered resi-dences result in lives saved, less damage and lower dollar loss in insurance claims

resulting from fire. The debate comes as the required cost; building developers say an additional $5000 is required for sprinkled residences and the minor reduction in insur-ance premiums does not recover the cost quickly enough. A cost assessment study was conducted and is available athttp://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Re-search/FireSprinklerCostAssessment.pdf This study indicates that the average cost was $1.61 per sprinklered square foot (SSF). Home insurance policies included in the study offer up to a 10% premium discount. The study found the actual savings of 3.4% when comparing 2,500 square foot residenc-es with and without sprinklers.

Home FIRE SPRINKLERS

by Noel Putaansuu

“t”2 F A L L 2 0 1 1 A R S O N R E P O R T E R W W W . I A A I - W A . O R G

Washington Chapter IAAI board member contacts

Robert Heacock – IAAI President Washington Chapter 21Rheacock@gaic.com

Bill Hewett – 1st Vice Presidentbhewett@co.whatcom.wa.us

Randy Fehr – 2nd Vice PresidentRandyFehr@ci.enumclaw.wa.us

Noel Putaansuu – Immediate Past PresidentNoelP@mde.com

Mike Lee – DirectorMike.Lee@vrfa.org

Adam Farhnam - Directorafarnham@exponent.com

Terry Brown - Directorbrowninvest@comcast.net

Mark Crowthers - Directormcrowthers@comcast.net

Mike Mikela - Secretary/Treasureriaai-wa@hotmail.com

International IAAI2151 Priest Bridge Drive, Suite 25Crofton, Maryland 21114Toll Free 1-800-468-IAAI (4224)Phone: 410-451-FIRE (3473)

Washington Chapter IAAI9116 E . Sprague Ave ., #186Spokane Valley, WA 99206-3601 (509) 728-6894 WA Chapt . Tax ID 91-1041379 501 (c) 3

McBride Construction Resources

Phone: (260) 283-7121Fax: (260) 284-5670

224 Nickerson St.Seattle, Washington98109-1822

Reviews:cont.From the Washington Chapter President:

Our Chapter newsletter ‘Arson Reporter’ was recently recognized by IAAI for ‘Outstanding Publication’. It takes a great deal of effort to include quality content and to have a professional look. Congratulations to Chapter past-president and editor Noel Putaansuu and all who have contributed to this first rate publication, and their well deserved recognition from IAAI. Our Annual May training conference in Leavenworth, in conjunction with North West Fire Investigators (NWFI), was another success. We look forward to our 2012 training and our continued relationship with NWFI.

Our own Annual General Meeting (AGM) and training has been moved from the May timeframe to avoid conflicting with the IAAI AGM. This year it will be held October 27-28 in Spokane Valley at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Training Facility. There are different speakers involved, but this year’s conference will feature David B. Givens, PH.D. Director, Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane presenting ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’.

Dr Givens is an Adjunct Professor at Gonzaga University, and has extensive experience in the field of non-verbal communication. Our AGM will also include elections for 2012 officers, and those nominations are listed in this newsletter. See the training details and registration form in this newsletter or our Chapter website for more information.

Mike Makala has agreed to become Chair of our CFI Committee, and is working on scheduling a Courtroom testimony class for early 2012. I appreciate the path that has been paved by Noel Putaansuu during his last two years in the President’s position. Our Chapter remains strong, dynamic, and active, with quality training opportunities being provided. Any suggestions for future training can be directed to myself or any Chapter officer.

I am pleased to be serving the Chapter during 2011, and look forward to our future activities

Robert Heacock

The Chapter 21 Annual General Meeting and Training Meeting was held October 6th and 7th in Olympia, Washington. The venue was a few minutes from I-5 and regionally centered along the western side of the state. The location was close to the State Fire Marshal’s office and resulted in two speakers from that office.

I would like to thank the speakers who volunteered to present. Every speaker paid for their time and transportation to speak at this event and deserve the grati-tude of the association.

The course materials were handed out to attendees and presenters on a thumb drive with the distinctive Chapter logo. All the information provided by speakers was included in digital format. This saved on printing costs and logistics.

The testing for the training was completed through the CFItrainer.net system. Deb Bell of the International office provided PIN numbers on cards for attendees to log in to the testing. At the end of the testing the attendee could print out the training certificate.

Craig Evezich and Mike MorganThese two seasoned attorneys presented several civil cases and the various approaches from the Plaintiff and Defense. They discussed the process of communication, which methods were discoverable and those that were not. How good cases can go bad and what the public side can do to assist the civil side and vice versa. It was good to hear the attendees as pointed questions were raised by the attendees and answered by the speakers.

Fire and Materials Conference 2011Jan 31-Feb. 2 2011This is an international conference of fire science professionals, and a large percent-age of the attendees present at the event. Featured are 70 papers from 14 countries. The speakers give 10-20 minute power point presentations of a research project or case review. An abstract of each paper is published in a handbook, and the full paper is presented on CD. The conference draws speakers and attendees from across the globe. The published information is later available by mail order. For information on this conference see the web sitehttp://www.intersciencecomms.co.uk

Laboratory testing and failure analysis,chemical analysis and SEM capabilities

www.caseforensicscorp.com

SEATTLE & PORTLAND &

DENVERToll Free 800-711-0704

By Noel PutaansuuAGM 2010

7

Featuring David B. Givens PH.D., Direc-tor, Center for Nonverbal Studies present-ing “Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews”

Thursday, October 278:30 Registration Opens 9:00 AM – 12:00 ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’12:00 PM – 1:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 PM - 3:00 ‘Detecting Non-verbal Cues of Deception in Interviews’ continued

3:00 - 4:00 Washington Chapter #21 Annual General Meeting and elections

Friday, October 288:30 Registration Opens 9:00 AM – 12:00 ‘Chasing your own – A look at Firefighter Arson’ by Bill Hewett, Assistant Chief of Whatcom County Fire District 8 12:00 PM – 1:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 – 4:00 ‘Arson, the Mind and the Motive’ by Glenn Johnson CFI of Q.Global Fire Investigations.

Fall Training SeminarDate changed to October 27-28, 2011 - Spokane Valley, WA

The categories are defined:• Fire Safety Engineering• Fires in Buildings• Cables and other Electro-technical Applications• Furniture and Furnishings • Wildland fires and the Built Environment Interface• Fire Dynamics• Transportation• Fire Investigation• Flame Retardants and new FR Applications• Modeling

Locally known presenters:• James Quintere• Vytenis (Vyto) Babrauskas• Joe Urbas• Vincent Brannigan• Ronald Hopkins• Steven Carman• Paul Way• Mike Fitz

In a murder,

you have a dead

body. In an assault or

robbery, you have a

witness and a com-

plainant. But in an

arson, you first have

to prove it was arson.

Second, you have to

prove that a specific

person did it.

David Ziegler

“

Review:

This conference alternates between in San Francisco and the UK each year.Download the registration form at www .iaai-wa .org

IAAI WA State Chapter9116 East Sprague Ave. #186Spokane Valley, WA 99206-2301

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDTACOMA, WA

PERMIT NO. 462

T H E W A S H I N G T O N S T A T E C H A P T E R I A A I

IN THIS ISSUE:

President’s letter . .pg . 2

Fall training seminar . . . . . . . . .pg . 2

Letter from the Editor . . . . . . . . . .pg . 3

Home fire sprinklers . . . . . . .pg . 3

Communicationetiquette . . . . . . . . .pg . 4

Reviews . . . . . . . . .pg . 6

AGM 2011 . . . . . . .pg . 7

International Association of Arson Investigators Washington State Chapter - Fall 2011

If you’re looking for a Fire Investigator, go to iaai-wa.org and click on the “Find an Investigator” button.

To submit an article for consideration send it to NoelP@mde.com Articles need not be long or technical; they should be of interest for professionals working in the field of fire.

The Arson Reporter needs articles . Will the cost of mandatory sprinklers in homes put a damper on building plans

FIRESPRINKLERS