Interesting case studies presented at the virtual Fire Investigations Meeting

A virtual conference of the CTIF Fire Investigation Working Group was held in Budapest on 11 November 2020. Participants were able to see case studies and discuss the working group's plans.

The meeting was opened by Major Zoltán Hidas from the Hungarian National Inspector General for Fire Services.

Participants were greeted by Brigadier General Dr. László Bérczi, National Inspector General for Fire Services, Vice President of CTIF, President of the CTIF Fire Investigation Working Group and then informed participants about changes in CTIF leadership. He informed that a publication is planned to publish in connection with the fire investigation of interesting and significant fires.

Then the representative of the United States of America presented the changes made to the NFPA Document 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. Later the representatives of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Hungary presented a fire investigation case study.

The speakers presented complex fire investigation cases about wildfire, plastic processing plant fire, used car tire recycling plant fire and a presentation pointed out the importance of taking into account the changed fire protection requirements related to the changed purpose in case of a building. Major Zoltán Hidas presented a fire investigation case study related to explosion and fire of a propane gas cylinder overfilled with LPG in Hungary.

Brig-gen. László Bérczi proposed that the Working Group shall publish a book annually about the instructive fire investigation cases. In order to achieve this objective every member of the WG are going to send a description of a fire investigation case.

The virtual meeting was also closed by the Major, thanking the participants for their work.