Chris,

Communication, communication, communication. The committee can only evaluate what is written in the proposal. If you did not get your point across the first time, you now have a chance to get your point across in a more explicit manner during the comment phase.

Some things to think about:

Fire patterns are produced through fundamental fire behavior. This fundamental behavior does not behave differently in a residential compartment, a four door car, or in an RV. That is why every investigator must understand such fundamentals since they can be applied to every fire investigation. Every fire is different in the conext that every circumstance has different initial conditions, but the fire always follows the laws of nature. If the reponse to a fire exposure is unique to a material that is unique to RV and not to other vehicless, then you need to expand on this concept in your comment.

NFPA 921 is famous for such generalized statements that really do not provide the investigator with useful information. This is especially true when describing the development of fire patterns. The document will say that an investigator should take into account such variables that can effect pattern development with no guidence on how to take such variables into account (read "potentially a subjective process"). If you have data that you can provide that clearly demonstrate that pattern A is unique only to RVs, then you should include it in your comment to the committee. In your proposal, I would want to know how such a generalized statement is useful to the investigator.

As John Lentini often has, why not use this forum to help develop an expanded comment that has input from forum members.

Good luck.

Doug

Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com