Job Performance Requirements (JPR’s)

Fire Investigation Origin & Cause Level I (online)

Completion time: 24 to 28 hours

FIOC Level 1 meets or exceeds the knowledge-based Job Performance Requirements (JPR) of NFPA 1033 Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator.

The knowledge-based JPR covered in the course includes:

• Fire facts
• Causes of fires, including accidental, natural, incendiary, and undetermined
• Basic Electricity
• The scientific method of fire investigation
• Planning the investigation
• Site safety
• Liaison with other interested parties
• Legal requirements pertaining to right of entry, right to exclude people from the scene, requirements for warrants
• Organizing the investigation
• Evidence recognition and preservation
• Documenting the scene, including notes, diagrams, photos and interviews
• Causal Factors – Area of Origin, Point of Origin, Source of Ignition, Material Ignited, Act or Omission
• Securing the fire scene
• Tools and equipment
• Seizure, handling and disposition of evidence
• Chain of custody
• Spoliation of evidence
• External and internal surveys
• Building construction
• Effects of fire suppression and overhaul
• Fire behaviour and spread
• Fire patterns interpretation and analysis
• Characteristics of burning materials
• Chemistry of fire
• Impacts of fuel load
• Debris removal and scene reconstruction
• Identification of potential fuel sources
• Data collection and synthesizing of information
• Search techniques
• Building systems and their effect of fire spread
• Types of explosions and their characteristics including deflagrations, detonations, low order damage, and high order damage.
• Developing a hypothesis and testing the hypothesis
• Testifying during legal proceedings
• Report writing and Presentations

Fire Investigation Origin & Cause Level II (online)

Completion time: 16+ hours

FIOC Level II meets or exceeds the skills-based Job Performance Requirements (JPR) of NFPA 1033 Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator.

The skills-based JPR covered in the course include:

• Planning the investigation
• Evidence recognition and preservation
• Documenting the scene, including notes, diagrams, photos and interviews
• Causal Factors – Area of Origin, Point of Origin, Source of Ignition, Material Ignited, Act or omission
• Securing the fire scene
• Tools and equipment
• Seizure, handling, and disposition of evidence
• Chain of Custody
• Spoliation of Evidence
• External and Internal Surveys
• Building Construction
• Effects of fire suppression and overhaul
• Fire Behaviour and Spread
• Fire Patterns interpretation and analysis
• Characteristics of burning materials
• Chemistry of fire
• Impacts of fuel load
• Debris removal and scene reconstruction
• Identification of potential fuel sources
• Identification of potential ignition sources
• Data collection and synthesizing of information
• Search techniques
• Developing a hypothesis
• Testing the hypothesis
• Fire cause determination – accidental, natural, incendiary, or undetermined
• Testifying during legal proceedings
• Report writing and Presentations