See below:

J L Mazerat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pat:
>
> That is not the case in what we were discussing.
> Can I eliminate the heater if there was no heart
> present? I say yes. I am saying the the fact that
> the item is not there is evidence in itself.

What does NFPA 921 say?

Again, you are advocating formulating a hypothesis without any evidence and then disproving the hypothesis because there is no evidence for it. This approach is not in keeping with the SM.

The SM, as applied and discussed in NFPA 921, requires evidence to formulate the hypothesis and evidence to disprove the hypothesis.


>
> That section is only warning about the elimination
> of any item before the item is completely
> evaluated. The comment in 921 is just saying I
> cannot eliminate the heater until all components
> of the heater are evaluated. If there is no
> evidence of a failure of any of the component then
> the heater is eliminated. I have no problem with
> that comment.

Jim, do you read these sections and try to understand what it means?

"The investigator is cautioned not to eliminate a potential ignition source merely because there is no obvious evidence for it."

>
> Are some potential causes of a fire disproved
> because that potential cause was no on the scene
> when the fire took place? My answer to that is
> yes.

Again, you do not formulate the hypothesis without any evidence.

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)
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