Firefax August 2015 - Iowa Chapter International Association of

VOLUME 28
FROM THE DESK OF
Becky Nelson
1ST VICE PRESIDENT &
FIREFAX EDITOR
The Iowa Chapter IAAI Inc. Officers and Directors have finalized
the information for the 2015 seminar and by now each of you
should have received your seminar registration. This year has an
exciting line up of speakers,
which will provide training and
education benefits for everyone.
The seminar is September 15-18,
2015. Please feel free to forward
the brochure to others who may
be interested in attending. Special thanks to Director Shepherd,
Director Blackburn and 2nd Vice
President Spykerman for putting
together this year’s conference.
Registration is available online by
going to the Chapter’s Website.
The brochure is online on the
Chapter’s Website under the
“Upcoming Training” ribbon on
AUGUST 2015
the right side of the page. You
can register for the seminar and
pay your annual dues online.
If you need to network with other
Chapter members you can now
access their contact information
by logging onto the Chapter’s
Website, going to the Membership tab and then going to View
Current Members. Put in your
first initial and last name as your
User for Member Archive and
your password is your membership number. If you have trouble
logging in, please contact Secretary/Treasurer O’Connell, who
will ensure you are putting in your
information correctly. He has
been working diligently with the
Chapter’s web team to get this up
and going and available to the
membership.
I have had the pleasure to attend
many lectures and training activities this year, including some of
the two week fire investigation
schools, a one day class on Arson
Investigation and Prosecution
Fundamentals and a lunch and
learn in Davenport. If you have upcoming training in your area that
you would like the membership to
be aware of, please contact Secretary/Treasurer O’Connell so he
can post the information on the
Chapter’s Website.
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ISSUE 2
YOUR VOTE IS
IMPORTANT –
OPEN POSITIONS
AVAILABLE ON THE
IOWA CHAPTER BOARD
Positions below are open:
President
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Director at Large West
Director of Detection
If you are interested in holding a
position with the Chapter, please
contact any Officer or Board
Member or
Nominations Chairman
Kurt Blackburn
f615@ci.davenport.ia.us.
The requirements to hold office
are as follows from the Chapter
Bylaws:
ARTICLE III
ELECTION, TERMS AND OFFICES
Section 1. Requirements
Hold Office.
to
A. Must have been an active
member of the Iowa Chapter for the two (2) years
immediately prior to nomination for a position.
B. Must be a member of IAAI
or immediately join upon
election.
I want to remind everyone who is
continuing their education to remember to apply for the Chapter’s
Reynold Hentges Scholarship,
which may grant two students a
$500 scholarship each year. The
requirements for applying have
changed to accept students who
are taking online classes. The
guidelines are as follows:
Applicants must be a resident of
Iowa and have been accepted to
or enrolled as either an online or
resident student in a nationally or
regionally accredited college,
university or vocational/technical
school. Applicants must major in
a field of education promoting a
career in one of the following professions or area of study: Fire
Service, Fire Science, Law Enforcement, Law, Fire Protection
Engineering,
Fire
Protection
Technology or Insurance.
Also remember the Chapter has
partnered with Columbia Southern University, which gives a
10% reduction in tuition.
Information on the Chapter’s
Scholarship and Columbia Southern University may be found on the
Chapter’s Website under the
“Learn More About Scholarships”
ribbon on the side of the page.
Please go to the Chapter’s Website
www.iowaiaaichapter.org. I hope
everyone has a great summer and
I look forward to seeing you all in
September at the seminar.
FROM THE DESK OF
Zack Spykerman
2ND VICE PRESIDENT
Greetings everyone! I hope you
are having a safe and enjoyable
summer. Remember to stay hydrated out there on scene as the
temperatures heat up!
I wanted to take a quick moment
to talk about the IAAI Expert
Witness Testimony class that
was given in April. The class fulfills the testimony requirement
for the IAAI CFI for those who
would like to apply for and take
the CFI exam, but have not had
the opportunity to testify. The
class provides the students with
all the tools to be successful
when called to testify by giving
the students the experience of
testifying in a courtroom setting
in front of a judge and jury. If you
are currently in need of the tes-
timony portion for the CFI exam
or are thinking of taking the exam, we will be providing the
class again in April 2016. The information about the class will be
sent out via email and registration will be on the IAAI website,
www.firearson.com.
I would also like to encourage
everyone to consider joining the
IAAI as an international member.
The international provides many
training opportunities and if you
are an international member it
substantially reduces the cost of
the class as there are member
vs. non-member rates. The cost
of membership for the international is $75.00 and many times
the classes given are $200-$300
higher for non-members. So if
you are or have considered additional training provided by the international, consider joining and
save yourself some money!
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox
now. I look forward to seeing
everyone at the September seminar in Davenport. The board has
put together a lineup that offers
something for everyone at a
great Radisson property. If you
have any questions or ideas for
training you would like such as
lunch and learn opportunities,
please feel free to contact me or
anyone else on the board. Once
again, have a great rest of the
summer!!
Mark Your Calendar!
PLAN TO ATTEND
Iowa Chapter Fire Investigation Seminar and
Annual Meeting
Radisson
Davenport, Iowa
September 15 – 18, 2015
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2015 Iowa IAAI Conference
September 15-18, 2015
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
1:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m.
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Board Meeting
Registration/Display Room Set-up
Early Registration
The National Insurance Crime Bureau with Brandon Ruediger and
Kristie Dwyer
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
7:00 – 8:00 a.m.
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Registration
Opening Ceremonies
President John Grier
Nominating Committee Report
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Social Media and Technology in Investigations: A Case Study with
Jim Morris, Will Ripley and Kim Shepherd
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch (Provided)
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Building the Fire/Prosecutor Relationship with Mike Walton and
Mike Hayman
2:00 – 4:00 PM
The Collaborative Investigation: The Relationship between Public and
Private Investigators with John Knapp & Steve Chasteen
4:00 – 5:00 PM
Putting it all together: Working as a team. A panel discussion with Morris,
Ripley, Shepherd, Walton, Hayman, Knapp and Chasteen
5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Sectional Meetings
6:30 p.m.
Cash Bar & Barbeque
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
8:00 – 10:00 a.m.
10:15 – 11:00 a.m.
11:00 –11:45 a.m.
12:00
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
6:00 – 6:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Vehicle Fires Part I with Trace Lawless
The Importance of Photography with Paul Hartman and Bart Howard
Annual Meeting
BUS LEAVES AT NOON for the Training Center
Vehicle Fires Part II with Trace Lawless
BUS RETURNS TO HOTEL
Follow-up with Photography with Paul Hartman and Bart Howard
Using the 3-D Imager with Kris Mayer
Social Hour (Cash Bar)
Banquet
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Methamphetamine Labs: Awareness and Hazards with
Sgt Kevin Smull and Special Agent Matt Allers
12:00 p.m.
Seminar Test
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FROM THE DESK OF
Kurt Blackburn
DIRECTOR AT LARGE,
EAST
The Lunch and Learn was held
May 27th with thirty-three active
members of the Iowa Chapter
attending. Our chapter was
honored by the class given by
Scott County Attorneys’ Mike
Walton and Kimberly Shepherd. Both individuals have a long time commitment to the IAAI Chapter and prosecuting arson cases. Kimberly
Shepherd is also a board member for the Iowa Chapter IAAI as Director
of Prosecution. Special thanks to Fire Marshal Mike Hayman and the
Davenport Fire Department for setting up the class and allowing it to be
held at the Mark Frese Training Center.
FROM THE FIRE SERVICE TRAINING BUREAU
TWO WEEK FIRE INVESTIGATION SCHOOL
practical exercise is used at the end of the program
to allow the participants to demonstrate the
knowledge they have learned in the program. This
also includes a case presentation on the final day.
The two week fire investigation school is a cooperative
effort between the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the
Fire Service Training Bureau. The program dates back
to 1964 when previous State Fire Marshal Wilbur
Johnson started the first “Arson Detection School”.
This school was designed to teach fire service and law
enforcement personnel to recognize possible arson
fires, properly handle and protect evidence, and to provide information on court procedures. This course was
later fine-tuned by Assistant State Fire Marshal Reynold Hentges in 1979, which was two weeks in length
and patterned after the National Fire Academy’s two
week fire investigation school.
This training course is recognized by the National
Fire Academy as equivalent to their two-week resident course. This allows Iowa students completing
this course to attend advanced level arson investigation courses at the National Fire Academy (those
courses that require the two-week course as a prerequisite).
Class dates for the 2016 two week fire investigative
school are March 14 – 25, 2016, at the Fire Service
Training Bureau in Ames. Information can be obtained by calling 888-469-2374.
The importance of this program is still consistent with
the program started in 1964; to provide fire service
and law enforcement personnel expertise on how to
properly conduct a fire investigation to today’s
standards using NFPA 1033 and NFPA 921.
Topics covered in the two week school include: Fire
behavior, basic methodology, building construction
and fire protection systems, fire patterns, origin and
cause determination, classification of fire causes,
electricity and fire, building fuel gas systems, evidence preservation and collection, accidental and
incendiary fires, fatal fires, explosion fires, legal aspects, insurance fraud, and motor vehicle fires. A
Students listening to a lecture on vehicle fires.
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Students learning about vehicle fire origin and
cause, which was preburned.
Burn cells for bedroom burns.
Students watching a live burn on a vehicle.
Students viewing the burn cells.
FROM THE DESK OF THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE
ARSON INVESTIGATION & PROSECUTION FUNDAMENTALS
On May 12th, the State Fire Marshal’s Division in conjunction with
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Northern District co-sponsored
an Arson Investigation and Prosecutions fundamentals class at
the Fire Service Training Bureau
in Ames. The class was well attended by approximately 60 people that included three prosecutors, insurance claim specialist
and fire investigators from both
the public and private side.
Kevin Techau, U.S. Attorney for
the Northern District provided
opening comments followed by
State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigle
who welcomed the attendees.
The class was taught by Special
Agent John Ticer from the State
Fire Marshal’s Division and by CJ
Williams, Assistant U.S. Attorney
in the Northern District.
The class began by covering the
simple topics of Stats Involving
Arson Fires, Basic Information
from Firefighters and Fire Scene
Fundamentals – Basic Burn Patterns and Evidence of Incendiarism. The class then examined
investigative methods of proving
who the arsonist is. This included
subjects such as obtaining photos and video from fire depart5
ments, patrol vehicles and helmet
cams, as well as a discussion on
the types of photographs investigators should take. Other investigative techniques such as obtaining surveillance video, initial interviews, neighborhood canvas,
and listening to jail house recordings were also discussed. Types
of records that investigators may
need to consider obtaining include cell phone, financial, computer and tablet, statement under
oath, and criminal histories.
During the class, open discussions or forums occurred on topics of search and seizure, scene
control, differences between
state and federal prosecution,
and NFPA 1033 requirements for
fire investigators particularly as
continuing education or minimum
education apply.
Investigative techniques were reenforced through case presentations that included an insured
convicted of setting his car on fire,
a hate crime directed towards an
occupied single family home and
a case prosecuted federally in the
Northern District of Iowa concerning a serial arsonist responsible
for numerous fires.
Special Agent John Ticer
CJ Williams, Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District
Attendees for the Arson Investigation & Prosecution Fundamentals Class
Congratulations to the latest IAAI CFI
Bryan Shupe
Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office
Paul Knobloch
Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company
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Iowa Chapter International Association of
Arson Investigators
MEETING MINUTES
February 6, 2015
I.
Call to Order – The monthly meeting of Officers and
Directors of the Iowa Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators was called to order by
President Grier at 14:15 at the Davenport Radisson,
Davenport, Iowa.
3. 2nd VP – Zach Spykerman: No Report.
4. Director West – Jeff Hutcheson: No report.
5. Director East – Kurt Blackburn: Thank Kim for instructing at today’s Lunch ‘n Learn. Pics will be
sent to Becky for Firefax.
II. Roll Call – Board and Directors
John Grier – President –Present
Becky Nelson – 1st Vice President –Present
Zach Spykerman- 2nd Vice President – Present via
conference call
Paul O’Connell – Secretary/Treasurer - Present
Greg Siembieda – Director of Investigation – Excused
G. Terry Smith – Director of Insurance – Present
Kimberly Shepherd – Director of Prosecution – Present
Jeff Haler – Director of Detection – Present via conference call
Jeff Hutcheson – Director at Large, West – Present
via conference call
Kurt Blackburn – Director at Large, East – Present
6. Director of Detection – Jeff Haler: No report.
7. Director of Prosecution – Kim Shepherd: Was a
very good Lunch ‘n Learn and a good crowd.
8. Director of Investigation – Greg Siembieda: No
report.
9. Director of Insurance – G. Terry Smith: Went to
ITC.
V. Committee Reports
1. Site Selection Committee – Clark /Haler: No Report.
2. Financial Review Committee – Shepherd: No report.
III. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report – Paul O'Connell
1. Motion to accept previous minutes & post to website from the April 10, 2015 meeting by Director
Shepherd, 2nd by Director Blackburn. Motion
passed.
3. Awards – Siembieda: No Report.
2. Finances: Checking $20,537.25, Savings $25,
CD’s $31,072.05, Paypal $127.18. The paypal reflects what we received for today’s Lunch ‘n
Learn. I currently have $840 to deposit for membership dues plus what cash Blackburn has for
today’s Lunch ‘n Learn. Paid Webspec for building new registration on the website for trainings.
Transferred money for additional CD. Paid IAAI
for VanVleet and Hutcheson advertisements. Motion to accept the financial report by Director
Shepherd, 2nd by Director Blackburn. Motion
passed.
6. Historian – Clark: No Report. Secretary/Treasurer
O’Connell reported that the history is now on the
website.
4. CFI – Smith: No Report.
5. Chaplain – Hartzler: no report
7. Communications
–
Siembieda:
Secretary/Treasurer O’Connell will contact David May
about Facebook sign in and password so we can
continue to update it.
8. Constitution/Bylaws – Hutcheson: No report.
9. Ethical Practice, Grievance & Appeal – Shepherd:
No report.
10. Membership – O'Connell: 12 new members since
last annual meeting. 170 renewals for the year so
far. Going to reach out to those that are International IAAI members but are not Iowa Chapter
members. President Grier will draft a letter for
Secretary/Treasurer O’Connell to send out. VP
Nelson will get O’Connell new brochures to send
along too.
IV. Officer & Board Reports
1. President – John Grier: Went to ITC and emailed
out the meeting report. 15 Chapter Presidents
were at ITC. They are pushing the Enhanced
Chapter to local Chapters to join. Don’t think we
would benefit from it. Discussed the profit sharing
at ITC with local chapters when they host an IAAI
training. Also discussed at ITC to have specific
class hours on certificates to support 1033 requirements. Be sure to send Jim Kuticka an invite
to our seminar as our IAAI Chapter Liaison.
11. Nominations – Blackburn: No report.
12. Past President’s Council – Chapman: No report.
13. Scholarship – Haler: The application has been
updated and changed on the website. O’Connell
2. 1st VP – Becky Nelson: No report.
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sent an email out to the membership soliciting
applications and announcing the change.
VII. New Business
1. Electrical Fire Course- Tabled to next meeting.
14. Training – Spykerman: Expert Witness class for
next Spring is scheduled but will need to be
changed because it is the same time as the ITC.
Food bill is paid. Other expenses will be sent to
O’Connell to pay. Not sure when we will get our
portion of the money as for profit sharing from
IAAI for the class.
2. ECT Certification: Tabled to next meeting.
VIII. Good of the Chapter:
1. Secretary/Treasurer O’Connell will email out the
original bid for the Radisson to the rest of the
Board.
IX.
VI. Old Business.
Adjournment
1. Next meeting will be TBD. Likely in July. President Grier will send out some dates.
1. 2015 Conference: Board members present at the
Radisson went over the room set up, break area
and vendor area with Radisson Staff before the
Board meeting started. Will pick up with planning
of seminar with the Radisson staff after the Board
meeting.
2. Motion to adjourn at 15:06 by VP Nelson, 2nd
Director Smith. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul O’Connell
Iowa Chapter IAAI, Inc.
Secretary/Treasurer
2. 2016 Conference: VP Nelson will get ahold of Ken
Ward and Dan Roberts to set up a meeting.
3. Iowa Fire Investigator & IAAI CFI: President Grier
emailed Quigle about the letters that were sent
out on May 11th. No one from Iowa City has received them. Neither has Council Bluffs.
Plan to Attend
Iowa Chapter Fire Investigation Seminar and
Annual Meeting
Mid-America Center
Council Bluffs, Iowa
September 20-23, 2016
The opinions expressed in this publication are not
necessarily those of the IAAI or the Iowa Chapter IAAI.
Please, if you have any suggestions for improvements or changes to the newsletter send me an e-mail at:
bnelson@gmrc.com.
Printed by Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company
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