Fire & Explosion Investigation & Analysis
By Forensic Engineering Firm, McDowell Owens
From small domestic fires to industrial plant explosions, McDowell Owens’ Fire Scientists and Engineers have the experience and expertise you need to determine what happened.
We arrive at our findings and conclusions through exhaustive scientific investigation, evidence collection, testing and analysis. We identify the causes and contributing factors and, when required, integrate the expertise of our mechanical, electrical and structural engineers to provide our clients the critical information they need to determine the appropriate courses of action and allocation of resources.
Areas of expertise include:- Fire Origin and Cause Investigation
- Explosion Investigation
- Fuel Gas System Analysis – Gas Mechanics and Diffusion
- Heat Transfer and Thermodynamic Analysis
- Computer Fire Modeling
- Full and Reduced-Scale Fire and Explosion Testing
Fire Investigation & Analysis
Our technical services cover on-site fire and explosion investigation in addition to a full range of litigation support services, which include the ability to conduct both full- and reduced-scale testing at the McDowell Owens Fire Testing and Research Center. Our ability to document the development and propagation of a fire or explosion incident, using state-of-the-art data logging equipment, provides McDowell Owens with the rare opportunity to fully test under scientific conditions any hypothesis formulated in connection with a particular loss. Recent case law has reinforced the critical importance of such testing relating to the substantiation of an expert's opinion through peer-reviewed and industry-accepted procedures.
In addition, we have the expertise to perform heat transfer and thermodynamic analysis along with the application of computer technology to model the potential development and distribution of the combustion by-products within a given environment. When necessary, toxicological examination of individual components, assemblies and construction materials can be performed to determine the products that are released during a pre-defined combustion reaction.
When you need the expertise of fire scientists and engineers to investigate a fire or explosion, contact McDowell Owens at (281) 358-2876 or complete our contact form.
