Synopsis
Scientific Protocols for Fire Investigation provides comprehensive coverage from historical, developmental, current, and practical perspectives. The author, uniquely qualified with years of experience in both on-site investigations and lab analyses, provides a resource that is unparalleled in depth and focus. The book is distinctive in that it not only discusses the appropriate techniques for fire scene investigation and the chemical analysis of fire debris, but it also focuses on the history of fire investigation and how the profession has evolved.
Specific topics of interest include:
An interpretation of GC-MS data from ignitable liquid residues
An explanation of fire analysis as it relates to chemistry, physics, and fluid dynamics
A critical assessment of common fire investigation errors with a discussion of how these errors affect real cases
A systematic examination of fire investigation mythology - how the myths originated and how they continue to be promulgated
The presentation of landmark legal cases that affect the protocol of fire investigations
The development of new tools used in investigations
Professional interaction - how to deal with clients, expert witnesses, lawyers, and the courts
A thorough and accessible book, Scientific Protocols for Fire Investigation provides not only the practical information necessary to conduct an effective inquiry but also with insight into the science, history, and theory behind what makes fire investigation a multi-faceted profession.
About the Author
John Lentini has been at the center of most of the important developments in fire investigation for the past 35 years. He began his career at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in 1974. He went into private practice in 1977 and spent the next 10 years working 100 to 150 fire scenes per year. At the same time, he managed a fire debris analysis laboratory with a nationwide clientele.
Lentini has been a certified fire investigator since certification first became available and was among the first group of individuals certified by the ABC as Fellows in fire debris analysis. He is one of the few individuals in the world who has held certifications for both laboratory and field work.
He has been a contributor to the development of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, and was a member of the NFPA's Technical Committee on Fire Investigations from 1996 to 2018.
When NIST and NIJ set up the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) in 2014, he was one of the first fire investigators invited to serve.
Lentini is the author of more than 30 publications, both in the peer-reviewed literature and in the trade journals of fire investigation, the insurance industry, and the legal profession. His study of the Oakland Hills fire in 1991 resulted in a rethinking of much of the conventional wisdom in fire investigation, and his laboratory work has resulted in research papers that are standard works in the field.
After managing the fire investigation department at Applied Technical Services in Marietta, GA, for 28 years, he moved to the Florida Keys in 2006 and now provides training and fire investigation consultation, doing business as Scientific Fire Analysis. He offers a three-day course based on the contents of this book. His website is firescientist.com. Mr. Lentini can be contacted via e-mail at scientific.fire@yahoo.com.
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