Reading the Fire and Building a Claim After Investigation

The Office of Research Experiences and Education (OREE) launched the second Xplorlabs module, Fire Forensics: Claims and Evidence on October 6, 2017. The new module provides students with the understanding of fire, fire dynamics and fire behavior, enabling them to read a fire scene and build a claim for a fire's location of origin and cause. The module experience is from the perspective of a student fire investigator in training, who is introduced to a claim, evidence and reasoning strategy, as a means to explain the results of an investigation.

Students learn from UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (FSRI) Director Steve Kerber and Research Engineer Dan Madrzykowski and UL Fire Project Engineer Kelly Opert, about the basics of fire, as well as more complex information, including stages of fire development and how ventilation impacts fires. In a video, students are taken through an investigation by Madrzykowski, who teaches them how to build a claim, explain the cause of a fire (based on the evidence) and how to find it.

Next, they complete their own independent investigation by interacting with a 360° view of a kitchen burn scene.

Once completed, Madrzykowski reveals the origin and cause of the fire. Students can then compare their results with those of others from around the world.

The full module experience is live at www.ULXplorlabs.org