Fire Investigations and Expert Witness
Haines Fire & Risk Consulting (HFRC) performs incident investigations and conducts technical evaluations for fire and explosion events involving flammable/combustible liquids, flammable gases, and hazardous materials. HFRC’s investigations help its commercial and industrial clients understand the root causes of fire and explosion incidents so that they may prevent reoccurrences. These services, as well as expert witness support are also provided to assist the legal profession in case development or defense.
HFRC personnel have investigated fires and equipment failures in:
- Refining/chemical process units
- Tank Farms
- Truck loading/unloading operations
- Power generation plants
- Aerosol recovery plants
- Laboratories
- Pharmaceutical plants
- Gas and service stations
- Pipeline facilities & equipment
- Heavy industrial, light industrial, & commercial properties
- Waste water treatment plants
Please, note that HFRC does not investigate residential fires unless fire causation was the result of accidental or incidental handling of flammable/combustible liquids, flammable gases or hazardous materials.
Incident Investigations
HFRC can conduct fire, explosion, and hazardous materials incident investigations alone or as part of the client’s incident investigation team. HFRC uses industry accepted techniques and procedures to develop technically sound and defensible cause and origin determinations. Where appropriate, HFRC will bring in or recommend other specialist who can further assist in the investigation efforts.
Technical Evaluations
HFRC provides technical evaluation services to assist its commercial, industrial and legal clientele to evaluate the accuracy and credibility of investigations completed by other parties. In doing so HFRC evaluates incident reports, witness and expert witness statements/depositions, photographic and video evidence, process control/instrumentation data and other related documentation.
HFRC also conducts preliminary evaluations to assess the technical aspects of an incident so that its clients may better judge the potential for legal action.
Expert Witness Services
HFRC staff provides depositions and court testimony to support the technical opinions and determinations made during incident investigations and technical evaluations. HFRC’s staff is experienced and can provide sound, logical and understandable testimony.
Engineering Services
HFRC conducts code reviews and other engineering services for legal clientele and/or for restricted distribution. These services, identical to HFRC’s fire protection consulting and process safety management services, are performed under the direction of an attorney to retain privileged communication and document distribution control.