Fire Investigation Services Eu.

04/02/2025

A great session working with the BSc Fire and Rescue students, from Wolverhampton University, today on a visit to West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service’s Wolverhamton Fire Station.
Introducing them to a smoke logged building, cosmetic smoke, they worked in teams to search the ground and first floor.

03/07/2024

Since leaving the Fire Service I’ve been teaching various modules on the BSc(Hons) Fire and Rescue degree course at Wolverhampton University. One of the modules I teach covers Building Construction.
When I joined the job in 1982, and through the compulsory promotion exams, a lot of emphasis was put on this subject. And in my opinion rightly so.
Speaking to firefighters across many brigades over the last year or so I’ve been surprised to find that it’s not a subject that much emphasis is put on these days. In fact speaking to one Watch Manager I was told they had never really studied the subject, or had their knowledge on the subject tested.
Surely the skill sets for safely fighting a building fire is to understand how the building, and the materials used in its construction, will react to both the fire, and how it is extinguished.

29/08/2023

During the first semester I’m teaching Fire Investigation to the second year students on the BSc ( Hons) Fire and Rescue course at Wolverhampton University. A 12 week module that covers all of the requirements for a Tier 1 Investigator and much of the Theoretical requirements for a Tier 2 Investigator. Scenes like this one will be shown to students who will act as Fire Service witnesses, for the student acting as the investigator to interview. We have plenty of scenarios so I can change the difficulty level as we progress.

17/08/2023

This is the University Course I lecture on.
The BSc(Hons) Fire and Rescue Degree Course is run at Wolverhampton University by ArtemisTDL. All of the lecturers are Retired Fire Officers who are qualified University Lecturers.
Anybody who wants to follow a career in the Fire Service, and may have had disappointing A level Results it’s worth checking Clearing for Wolverhampton University.

22/06/2023

Moving on from yesterdays video here’s the fire advancing towards flashover. The fire plume is pushing hot gases to the ceiling, flames can be seen occasionally rippling through the smoke at high level. Heat is being radiated downwards warming surface materials below. These are starting to pyrolyse adding to the volatile gases. Flashover is getting close but will be dependent on oxygen availabliy in a well sealed modern room.
I teach this module on the Fire and Rescue Degree Course at Wolverhampton University. A link to the prospectus is below ⬇️

https://www.wlv.ac.uk/courses/bsc-hons-fire-and-rescue/

21/06/2023

When I’m teaching on the BSc(Hons) Fire& Rescue Degree course at Wolverhampton University I can’t actually set a classroom on fire. So I use a virtual model in the classroom I teach in. Here’s a short clip

21/04/2023

Teaching on University Courses and Training Fire Officers. I use simulated scenarios like this to open up the discussion on scene preservation.
The Initial Incident Commander BBC is a de facto Tier 1 Fire Investigator in the U.K.
When should they start investigating.
What scene preservation should they employ. How would they structure contemporaneous notes so as to ensure a good report, witness statement, or hand over to a Tier 2 Investigator is carried out correctly.
Do all Tier 1 Investigators realise that they are the start of the witness trail, and chain of evidence, if they move, remove, or recover items at the scene.
Do they get the training to enable them to do it.

03/07/2022

A great couple of days working with Artemis TDL in Mid and West Wales. A great atmosphere in this brigade. Lots of enthusiasm and commitment from everybody involved.

05/03/2022

I was talking to a student recently who asked me about Sauna Fires. How they could start, and if I had any experience with investigating them.
Always happy to help, and a short Case Study later they were quite happy.

26/10/2021

I've been helping one of my Distance Learners from the BSc (Hons) Fire and Rescue Dgree course.
He's a serving Fire Officer in Anguila and has recently attended this incident.
It's always great to help.

20/07/2021

Outside of my work I am a massive reader, mainly crime fiction. I have a book review blog and give advice to authors on Fire Service procedures and Incident scenes. I wrote this blog a few years ago in response to some authors questions.

People ask “what was the worst fire you went to, what was the biggest fire you went to, what was the worst thing you saw?” The thing that I remember most is “the blue light oasis&…

01/07/2021

Recent social media posts seem to suggest that you cannot retrieve evidence from a burnt out vehicle. This is not true. Here are some of the photos I have from car fires I have been asked to examine.