How fire testing and fire engineering analysis can be used

Fire investigation is instructed by a wide range of clients for different purposes. This presentation will explore the nature of these instructions and the scientific methodology adopted by many investigators. Case studies and examples will be included to illustrate how fire testing and fire engineering analysis can be used to assist in a fire investigation.

SPEAKER

AL BROWN
Technical Expert, HKA

Al Brown is a Chartered Fire and Mechanical Engineer with an MSc in Fire and Explosion Engineering. He has over thirty years of international survey and consulting experience in fire safety and industrial risk engineering in North America, the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific, advising management and construction professionals on the specification and design of fire protection systems for buildings, equipment and processes. He has been instructed as an Independent Technical Expert on more than 20 occasions and has given evidence in court, adjudication and property tribunal hearings.

Al undertook his first fire investigation in 1987 and received his first appointment as an Independent Expert Witness in 2002. Over his career he has received instructions from insurers, loss adjusters and lawyers on over 30 investigations, including losses totaling over $175 million. His fire investigation and expert witness experience includes plating lines and heated wet process equipment for the semiconductor industry and investigation into the operation and effectiveness of fire protection systems. His recent expert witness instructions include external cladding (ACM) and timber cladding systems, fire doors, fire dampers and fire stopping in hospitals, sprinkler design and installation defects for a large casino project and a hotel kitchen extract system fire.