Fire and Explosion Investigation Services at Meier Fire
We offer a full range of fire and explosion investigation services including: scene exams, lab exams & testing, code research, expert reports and testimony. Our clients benefit from fire and explosion investigation services tailored to fit the unique facts of their case.
We can help your fire or explosion case with:
- Fire & Explosion Scene Investigations
- Evidence Examinations
- Fire Investigation from File Review
- Materials Analysis and Testing
- Fire and Safety Code Research
- Scene Diagrams and Courtroom Exhibits
- Expert Origin and Cause Investigation Reports
- Fire And Explosion Expert Testimony
Meier Fire has services to help you with Every Step of your fire or explosion investigation.
Scene Investigations: Documenting the evidence.
We methodically document the fire scene. We collect and preserve all crucial physical evidence. You get a verbal report within 48 hours to let you where you stand and what the next steps should be taken. (Learn how we can help if the scene isn't available)
Evidence Inspections
We know what evidence to collect and what it can tell us. Proper documentation, inspection and analysis of evidence can enhance your case and, often, stop the other side’s case dead in its tracks. We follow the industry guidelines dictated by NFPA 921 and ASTM. We provide written protocols, & insist on complete documentation of the inspection process, whether it occurs in our lab or elsewhere.
Fire Investigation from File Review
In a perfect world, we’d get to the fire scene immediately – but life isn’t perfect. Sometimes, the incident scene isn’t available anymore. Don’t worry. We can use existing materials like Fire Department & insurance reports, photographs, witness statements, retained evidence, etc… to formulate science-based conclusions. We can cull through the information we need to get ANSWERS for your case. NFPA 921 specifically allows for this kind of review and investigation. Did you come to the case late? Need a second opinion or a rebuttal witness? Are you just not 100% confident in your current expert? We can use file review to help you.
Materials Analysis and Testing
What is it? What’s it made of? How was it made? Did it cause ignition? Did it fail? If so, how? Do the manufacturer’s labels and warning align with the product’s physical and chemical properties? There are a lot of questions involved in fire and explosion investigation. At MFI, we have the tools to find the right answers. We test materials and devices for flammability characteristics, ignition propensity, and possible failure modes in our fully-equipped fire science laboratory. Whether it is a solid, a liquid or a gas, we can tell you if it burns, how it burns, and how it gets ignited.
Fire and Explosion Investigation Services: Fire and Safety Code Research
Fire Codes are complicated, and you need an expert who knows them inside and out. Statutes, codes, standards, guides: why do we have them, what’s the difference between them and what do they mean for your case? Which code or standard applies when things go wrong? Can a product meet the code and still be unsafe? At MFI, we’re fire code experts. Our in-house codes and standards collection includes NFPA, ASTM, UL, ANSI, ABYC and ICC codes, just to name a few. We serve on many committees that write codes, and we can confidently tell you what standard applies, which revision was in effect, and why it affects your case.
Investigation Diagrams and Exhibits
A well-constructed diagram is an essential investigative tool. We use them to analyze the event, make heat & flame vector analyses, egress calculations, build computer fire models, and to visually reinforce our reports. These diagrams educate juries on what we see in the scene photographs, our origin hypothesis and on fire growth & fire dynamics.
Fire Investigation Industry Secret
Here’s an industry secret our competitors don’t want you to know… Digital laser scans don’t make for better fire investigations. They’re an “added service” that just make your case more expensive. All the necessary data can be often be obtained more quickly and cost-effectively using simpler methods.
Fire and Explosion Investigation Services: Expert Reports
All the technical know-how in the world can’t help your case if your expert can’t communicate effectively. Everything we do in your investigation culminates in our report. How does an expert communicate your case effectively? MFI does it by starting with a well written report, accurate and easy to understand visuals, and approachable style that is easy to follow. The expert report is the first step in gaining a favorable outcome: you want it to be impressive but easily understood. You want the judge, the jury and especially opposing counsel to understand your case’s strengths at a glance. Clear writing, illustrated text, and professional diagrams make a Meier Fire Expert Report your secret weapon.
Fire and Explosion Expert Testimony
When selecting an expert to analyze or testify to a fire’s origin and cause, you need an expert with the right degree, certifications and training. Check, check, check. Richard Meier has all three, but we all know that credentials alone aren’t enough to be successful in court. You need an expert who can communicate effectively during testimony to opposing counsel, the judge and the jury. You need an expert who can make the merits of your case seem obvious and irrefutable without being condescending. Richard Meier does all that. He's credible, approachable and down-to-earth, exactly the kind of expert juries like. He knows the science and how to present it while making complex fire science interesting and easy to understand.