Monday, April 8, 2024 (1:00pm - 5:00pm) Celebrity 1-8 (excluding 5)

This presentation, instructed by ATF Engineers, ATF Special Agents and local investigators will detail two recent firefighter Line of Duty Death (LODD) investigative case studies to review potential failure modes of Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST), forensic investigative techniques, and several firefighting tactical considerations that resulted from the analysis. ATF provided technical assistance to the Howard County Maryland Office of the Fire Marshal at the scene of a large residential fire located at 7005 Woodscape Drive on the morning of July 23, 2018. A fire occurred in an 8,400 square foot single family residence that resulted in the LODD of Firefighter Nathan Flynn after the floor collapsed into the burning crawl space below. ATF personnel utilized engineering analysis methods including field fire testing, large-scale laboratory fire testing, advanced computer fire modeling and electronic data sources to assist with determining the origin and cause of the fire, the route of fire spread throughout the structure and the events that led to the firefighter MAYDAY and LODD. A video timeline including computer fire modeling, fire testing and electronic data will be shared, along with the methodology used by investigators to generate this data. A fact-based comparison between the Woodscape Drive LODD and the Ball Road LODD incident three years later will be discussed. Both fires originated due to lightning-induced arc failure of CSST. The presentation will conclude with detailed review of the various types of CSST, modern methods of mitigating arc-induced hole formation, and a hands-on demonstration of arc-induced failure of CSST.