NFPA 1321: Standard for Fire Investigation Units - The background, development, implementation, and Effect on Fire Investigations
In 2009 the National Academy of Science, supported by the National Institute of Justice, conducted a study of forensic science disciplines which resulted in the report Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States. In 2014 NIST created, and administrates, the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC). OSAC facilitates the development and promotes high quality sound standards. As Fire and Explosion investigations are considered a forensic science It currently endorsed NFPA 921 and NFPA 1033.
Phil Crombie is the Chairman of the OSAC Fire and Explosion Investigation Subcommittee. Hear from Mr. Crombie about the development of current standards which has led to the NFPA proposed standard NFPA 1321: Standard for Fire Investigation Units which has an implementation date of 2024. Learn about the scope and reasoning behind the new standard and how it will affect the future of fire and explosion investigations.
Case Study: Complex Arson Investigations and Interagency Cooperation
Hear from Retired ATF CFI Joanna Lambert as she presents a case study involving multiple arson fires, fraud, and attempted murder. This case study will begin with the fire scene investigation and continue through the investigation which utilized multiple local, state, and Federal Agencies. Hear how the investigation revealed numerous crimes in multiple jurisdictions. Learn how numerous agencies in multiple jurisdictions worked together utilizing numerous investigative techniques which resulted in state and Federal convictions for numerous defendants.
Link to directions and Building 17 location at Springfield Technical Community College
https://www.stcc.edu/about-stcc/campus-map-and-directions/
PHILIP E. CROMBIE, JR., CFEI
Mr. Crombie has more than 40 years of fire investigation, forensic, fire protection engineering and insurance loss control experience. Since 1997 he has been assigned to the Travelers Engineering Laboratory with responsibility for the investigation of major loses countrywide including all of those over $1 million. He holds the title of Assistant Vice President.
Mr. Crombie began his career with Aetna as an Engineering Representative in the Hartford, CT in 1979 after graduating from Holy Cross College, Worcester MA with a degree in physics. As of mid-1994, Mr. Crombie became head of the Technical Operations Group. In 1996 Travelers and Aetna merged their property and casualty insurance operations. From April 1996 through May 1997 Mr. Crombie served as Manager, Construction & Civil Engineering responsible for providing safety and loss control services to many of the country’s largest construction companies
Since July 2002, Mr. Crombie has represented Travelers on the NFPA 921 Technical Committee on Fire Investigations. In October 2014 he was appointed to serve on the NIST Organization of Scientific Area Committees, Fire & Explosion Investigation Subcommittee and is currently Chair. Mr. Crombie was an active member of the South Windsor, CT Volunteer Fire Department from 1972 to 2012. Mr. Crombie retired as Chief in June 2012. He is a Life Member. Mr. Crombie became an adjunct instructor with the Connecticut Fire Academy is 1980. Mr. Crombie also served as an Adjunct Instructor with the National Fire Academy. Mr. Crombie retired from these positions in April 2011. He has taken course work in the Fire Protection Engineering Masters Degree Program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
He is a Life Member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He is also a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators, the National Association of Fire Investigators, and the National Fire Protection Association. He is a past president of the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors Association. He holds the grade of Member in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and is a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI).
JOANNA LAMBERT
Joanna Lambert has over 30 years of combined experience in Fire Protection, Criminal Investigation and Fire Origin and Cause Investigation. Joanna attended the University of New Haven in West Haven Connecticut and received a B.S. in Arson Investigation and an M.S. in Forensic Science in 1991 and 1997, respectively. From 1990 – 1994, Joanna was employed as a Fire Protection Specialist at the Textron Lycoming Army Engine Plant in Stratford, CT. She began her law enforcement career in 1994 with the Fairfield, Connecticut Police Department and, in 1995, joined the Windsor, Connecticut Police Department.
In 2001, Joanna joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as a Special Agent and, in 2012 became an ATF Certified Fire Investigator. From 2012 to 2021, she was a member of the ATF National Response Team (NRT), which responds to large scale fire and explosion events nationwide.
Joanna retired from ATF in 2021 and is now employed as a Fire Investigator with Travelers Insurance in New England.
Joanna is an International Association of Fire Investigators (IAAI) Certified Fire Investigator (CFI) and is a member of the National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI). She has instructed at numerous conferences as well as at the National Fire Academy and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).