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• MA-IAAI Annual Training Conference - Fatal Fire Investigation Course: How the Human Body Burns and What is Left for Investigators at the Fatal Fire Scene

  • Start
    September 23, 2026
  •  
    9:00 AM
  • End
    September 25, 2026
  •  
    1:00 PM
  • Location
    Red Jacket Resort, 1 South Shore Drive, South Yarmouth, 02664

  Register

  MA-IAAI Annual Training Conference

  Sept. 23-25, 2026

  Red Jacket Resort
  1 S. Shore Dr.
  South Yarmouth, MA 02664
  Rooms can be reserved online using the link below.
  Reserve you room online 

  Reserve your room by August 25th to receive special pricing.

  If you are calling the Resort, please tell the you are with MA-IAAI or use Code MA1473.

  Conference Info:

  Fatal Fire Investigation Course: How the Human Body Burns and What is Left for Investigators at the Fatal Fire Scene

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  Elayne Pope Ph.D., Forensic Anthropologist at Fatal Fire Research and Education

  www.fatalfireinvestigation.com
  

  Dr. Elayne Pope is the Director of Fatal Fire Research and Education who studies how the human body burns during vehicle, structure, outdoor, and incendiary fire events. She provides ongoing training for fire investigators, law enforcement, crime scene investigators, medicolegal death investigators/coroners, and is a subject matter expert on Fire Fatality Investigations. Dr. Pope examines thermal damage on burned human remains and bones as it applies to forensic casework in legal proceedings.

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  The Fatal Fire Investigation Course is based on the scientific approach of documenting how the human body burns and what remains as evidence of the victim’s body after the fire. This training is derived from 20+ years of experimental research that has documented how the human body burns within different fire environmental settings, the heat-related changes of the body’s layered soft tissues and bones, movements of the body and limb flexion (pugilistic posture), what survives the after fire, and what the investigator should look for as evidence of victim’s burned remains at the fatal fire scene, and the effective methods for search and recovery of burned human remains that are considered ‘burned beyond recognition’.

  This course presents the full spectrum of heat-related changes to the body based on scientific observations from human cadavers, that were burned in a variety of fire environments (structures, vehicles, confined spaces, outdoors, ignitable liquids, etc.), for varying burn durations of minutes to hours, with different fuel types/loads, and the post-fire conditions of both the scene and the fire victim to demonstrate what the investigator can expect to find as physical evidence of a burned human body at the fatal fire scene. The course presents the proper field methods of search, scene documentation with photography and mapping of the body within the fire scene, the importance of extensively examining/documenting burn patterns of both the body and the surrounding burn patterns on surfaces of furnishings/walls/materials in the fire scene prior to body removal efforts, excavation and recovery techniques at the scene, proper handling methods for moving the victim’s burned body and fragmentary burned bones from the scene, and the proper methods to prepare the burned body for transport from the fatal fire scene to the Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office. This course is recommended for Fire Investigators, Homicide Investigators and Law Enforcement, Crime Scene Investigators, Medicolegal Death Investigators, Coroners/Medical Examiners, and other who are involved in fatal fire casework.

  Schedule:

  Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
  09:00-10:30 Introduction and overview of common types of fire damage on a burned human body How burn patterns are produced and movements of the body during the fire event 10:30-10:45 Morning Break 10:45-12:00 Fire damage of the head and preexisting traumatic injuries Myths and misconceptions in fatal fire investigation 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-14:00 Effects of fire suppression on the burned body Fire damage to the torso and the role of rendered body fat 14:00-14:30 Afternoon Break 14:30-16:00 Effects of burning with ignitable liquids 18:30 BBQ Dinner at Beach Pavillion (Chapter Members only, additional banquet tickets may be purchased at registration)	09:00-12:00 Live burn demonstrations 12:00-13:30 Lunch 13:30-16:00 Hands on Investigations of training burns 18:30-22:00 Annual Banquet at beach Pavillion (ChapterMembers only, additional banquet tickets may be purchased at registration)	09:00-10:30 Burn patterns from structure fires and different types of furnishings Confined space and outdoor fire scenes Vehicle fires Post-fire alterations of the burned body at the fire scene 10:30-10:45 Morning Break and Officers Nominations 10:45-12:00 Fatal fire scene investigation -search and recovery techniques Investigating burn patterns of both the body and the fire scene together Scene documentation, field recovery methods, evidence handling Proper and improper handling methods for preparing the body for transport 12:00 Questions Chapter Officers Election and General Meeting 13:00 Adjournment

  Proudly Sponsored by:

  Vertex Fire Investigations, LLC	Lowell Firefighters Credit Union
  LaPointe Construction Board-up Service	Seltser & Goldstein Public Adjusters

  MA-IAAI would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support in the education of our members.

  LIMITED VENDOR SPACE & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES STILL AVAILABLE! For information, contact Barry Gannon Jr. BGannonJr@MAIAAI.com
  

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