President: Peter Mansi

IAAI-UK President: Peter Mansi IAAI-CFI, GIFireE IAAI Director of the Board

Peter has been an operational fire officer within the London Fire Brigade for almost 28 years; the last ten of those as a Fire Investigator and since 2001 a Station Manager within the Fire Investigation Group. In October 2008 he took up post as the Borough Commander of the City of London and from May 2009 is also managing the Fire Investigation Group at its new central location within the City of London.

In October 2001, he helped instigate the Arson Reduction Team, analysing and addressing the extensive problem of arson in London. To this end, he was instrumental in establishing Borough Arson Liaison Officers in each of the 33 boroughs within London, consisting of a police officer and a fire officer to focus on ‘all things arson’ within their respective boroughs. He has supported the development of Forensic Arson Liaison Officers with Scotland Yard’s SCD4 within each of the borough teams.

Peter was responsible for writing the Memorandum of Understanding between the London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service, which was agreed and signed in January 2003 and also the Memorandum of Understanding between the London Fire Brigade and Crimestoppers London, which was signed in March 2004.

Having been part of the management team that supervises 28 dedicated fire investigation officers, 2 of whom are canine hydrocarbon handlers and several officers who are on fire investigation development programmes in London, he still actively investigates fires and has developed the role of a ‘protracted scene manager’ at complex, high profile or protracted fire investigations. One of Peter’s roles within the London Fire Brigade is as a Hazardous Materials and Environmental Protection Officer (HazMat). Peter was the lead fire investigator on the double fire-fighter fatalities investigation that occurred in Bethnal Green, East London in July 2004; he was the lead fire investigator on the Iron Mountain storage facility major fire in Bow, East London, which attracted 20 fire engines and took several days to extinguish. He is investigating the origin, cause and development of a fire in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, which claimed the lives of two fire fighters in September 2007 and reviewing the fire investigation into the fire in Warwickshire that claimed the lives of four fire fighters in November 2007.

Peter was involved with a working group during 2004/5, which developed the National Occupational Standards for Fire Investigation within the UK and was published in 2005. He also sits on the IAAI Fire Investigation Standards Committee (FISC), the IAAI CFI Committee, the IAAI Membership Committee and the IAAI Offshore Training Committee. Peter is serving as a Director on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Arson Investigators (Global).

He is studying for a PhD by carrying out research on the methodology of arson investigations focusing on both accidental and deliberate fires and particularly on the arsonist(s) to help improve the prosecuting rates that currently exist (currently approximately 3%). He has recently published in the UK and USA his ‘Ten Stage System’ to assist in serial arson investigations. Peter a Member of the Forensic Science Society.

Vice President: John Galvin

John has been a serving Fire Officer with the London Fire Brigade for over 28 years in both Operational and Specialist roles and has been a dedicated Fire Investigation Officer since 1995. During that time he has been the lead investigator on over 2000 incidents including fatal and major fires.

He was one of the first 2 people in the UK to become a Certified Fire Investigator whilst attending the IAAI AGM in Nevada, USA in April 2003 and has been instrumental in adapting and establishing the CFI programme within the UK.

John has attended and instructed on many fire investigation courses both in the UK and USA including the ATF CFI re-cert course.

Prior to his fire service career John was an aeronautical engineer. His engineering background included both electrical and instrumentation systems with a period working in R & D. John has a BSc (Hons) Technology and holds diplomas in design and pollution control. He is a Certified Fire Investigator and a member of the Forensic Science Society.

As a committee member John deals with all issues relating to membership including applications and the IAAI-CFI programme in the UK.

Secretary: Claire Mansi

Claire has been an Arson Task Force Practitioner with the London Fire Brigade since the creation of its Arson Task Force in July 2004. She has been the recipient of several awards for the work she has carried out in some of the most prolific arson areas in the United Kingdom.

Claire received a letter of congratulations from the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade for her contribution to the Tower Hamlets’ Arson Sub-Group; she received a ‘Safer London - Problem Solving’ award from the Metropolitan Police Service for her diligent arson case management work carried out on a social housing estate in East London and she was awarded the Commissioner’s Certificate of Commendation for her ‘Dedication and Professional Hard Work’ as part of the Arson Task Force Team.

Claire has delivered training across many of the 33 London Boroughs, educating officers of the Metropolitan Police Service, and in particular their Police Community Safety Officers that illegally dumped rubbish and other accumulation of unwanted items present an available fuel package for the opportunistic arsonists.

She was on a working party that developed the ‘Ten Stage System’ for serial arson investigations and has been instrumental in managing several cases where the arsonist would most probably not have been apprehended without her involvement.

Claire has created, developed and implemented the London Fire Brigade’s S.A.F.E. (Stop Arson For Ever) project for schools in which deliberate fire setting has been reported. The project highlights the consequences of fire and fire setting and she has helped refer previously unidentified fire setters to the London Fire Brigade’s Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention scheme.

When addressing the many arson problems that exist within London, her strengths begin by looking at the statistics and the statistical analysis carried out by various organisations’ data analysts. She realises those statistics into a language that can be understood by all interested parties and by applying the ‘Ten Stage System’ for serial arson investigations, has assisted with successful prosecutions.

Claire’s involvement with arson issues began sometime before her joining the Arson Task Force in London; she supported victims of arson for over seven years during her role as co-ordinator for East Sussex Fire Victim Support Unit. She has also helped victims of arson within her role in the Victim Support Team in Hastings, East Sussex, which offered a support service for victims of personal crime, including arson attacks, sexual assault, homophobic attacks, racially motivated crimes, physical and mental abuse. She liaised with Police Officers, prepared reports, data-input, case delegation and co-ordination of work load for volunteers.

Between 2000 and 2003 Claire carried out voluntary work for the Woodlands National Health Trust whilst living in Hastings, East Sussex as a Mental health Manager reviewing the Sectioning Appeals and determining legalities of application on specific cases, including arson.

She has attended fire investigation training courses in the USA, passing the course tests at the International Association of Arson Investigators Annual Training Courses in Washington (2005), Denver (2006), Victoria (Canada 2007), Denver (2008) and Texas (2009).

Claire has also attended courses and seminars throughout the UK, including The NAFI/NFPA Fire Investigation Seminar (2004) at the Fire Service Collage in Moreton-in-Marsh, the Cleveland International Fire Investigation Conference (2005) and the Gardiner Associates "Live, Learn, Pass It On" (2003 & 2005). She has attended the International Association of Arson Investigators –UK (IAAI-UK) ‘Photography at Fire Scenes’ training course on the 13th March 2006 (TESTED – Passed) and the Gardiner Associates one week practical foundation Course (2006) - passed.

Claire organised and managed the IAAI-UK’s four-day ‘International Fire and Arson Investigation Conference’ in central London in July 2008 attracting over 100 delegates from around the world. She also manages and selects speakers for the IAAI-UK’s Annual Training Conferences and Summer Training Conferences.

Claire is the Secretary for the International Association of Arson Investigators (United Kingdom) Chapter and the committee member who is responsible for Press and PR for the UK Chapter.

Treasurer: Martin Bloomfield

Martin Bloomfield is the Crime Lab manager for Sussex Police. With a team of 11 they provide Sussex Police with chemical treatments and light source examinations similar to what you might see in CSI (Miami, NY or LA!).

He’s been involved with Scenes of Crime since 1987; based mainly at Brighton being a specialist photographer then becoming a multifunctional SOCO in 1993. He was involved in many high profile crime scene examinations, with his photographs being used in the national newspapers and television.

On promotion to Senior SOCO in September 2000 He became a qualified Sussex Police Forensic Awareness Trainer; giving training, talks and lectures to a wide audience of Police Officers, college students, external agencies and members of the public. He also became a Crime Scene Manager (CSM) and supervised many crime scenes from assaults, robberies and murders.

He is a member of the Forensic Science Society and holds the Society’s Diploma in Crime Scene Investigation.

In December 2006 he was promoted to Lab manager. Although the majority of work is fingerprint based, they have an extensive Lab based in Brighton. The team assists with the specialist examinations at serious and major crime. The team is made up of specialists in chemical treatments, Alternative Lights Sources (ALS - Quaser and lasers etc.) and digital imaging photographers.

Up to recently (2001 - 2006) he was a speciality assessor for the CRFP in Crime Scene Examination.

Training & Education: Michael Jones

Mike started work as an electrical design and commissioning engineer in the nuclear industry then moved to the petro-chemical industry in the field of certification of explosion protected apparatus. He also presented training courses on the keeping such equipment safe and very much enjoyed the interaction with other engineers and the opportunities it provided for learning.

Mike then moved into fire investigation and works mainly on civil matters for the insurance industry but is occasionally asked to deal with criminal matters either for the Defence or the Prosecution. His work has great diversity and, following from his engineering days, he seeks every opportunity to talk about his cases with like minded individuals so as to learn and to pass on knowledge – an especially important process for a field that is in its infancy in terms of scientific development.

Newsletter: Michael Rodden

Mick Rodden is an Arson Task Force Practitioner with Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and been an active member of both the IAAI and IAAI-UK.

Website: Nick Carey

Nick Carey is a full-time Fire Investigator based at Acton, West London. He started his career in the London Fire Brigade (LFB) over 25 years ago and has been a specialist Fire Investigator for 14 years.

In January 2002, Nick attended the ATF`s 2 week "Advanced Cause & Origin and Court Room Techniques" course in Brunswick, Georgia, USA.

In May 2002 "Fire Prevention & Fire Engineers Journal" published an article on applying Arc Mapping to UK wiring systems. The article included the research carried out in North Carolina and included a UK case history. In 2007 he published a paper on his research into the reliability of arc mapping and localised melting (arcing damage) to electrical conductors at Interflam 2007.

In October 2004 Nick was awarded the Forensic Science Society`s Fire Investigation diploma.

Nick is an IAAI Certified Fire Investigator and a Member of the Forensic Science Society.

In 2009 he completed a PhD with the University of Strathclyde for his research titled “Developing a reliable systematic analysis for arc fault mapping”.

Committee Member: Chris Clarke

Chris Clarke GIFireE MFssoc

Chris is a Station Manager in the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and manages their dedicated Fire Investigation Team. He also Chair’s the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Fire Investigation Group which provides specialist fire investigation cover for the region. As a 26 year veteran of the fire service he has been involved in fire investigation since training and introducing a fire dog into the West Yorkshire FRS in 2000. He was instrumental in establishing an Arson Task Force in the Killingbeck area of Leeds aimed at the reduction in deliberate fire setting, focusing on abandoned vehicle fires.

Chris has been a member of the IAAI since its inception, he sits on a number of national working groups including the IFE special interest group, Skills for Justice FI Qualifications group and CFOA FI Steering Group.

He completed the FLETC ‘Advanced Cause & Origin and Court Room Techniques” course in Brunswick, Georgia, USA in 2006. Chris has also presented at a number of venues in the UK and the Florida Arson Seminar in Orlando, Florida, USA. Chris has been involved and lead on several research projects including Chinese Lanterns and fatal fires involving “Microwavable Wheat Bags”. He is in the final year of studies for is MSc in Fire Investigation at Anglia Ruskin University and is a member of the Forensic Science Society.

Committee Member: Penny Harper

Penny is a Director of Legal Experience Ltd. Penny has extensive experience of designing and delivering legal knowledge and skills based learning and development as well as assessed programmes. Penny has spoken at many conferences and regularly written articles including those published in the “New Law Journal”, “The Solicitors Journal”, “The Tax Advisor”, and “Fire”. Penny is the principal author of “The expert witness” a practical guide, published by Sweet and Maxwell. Penny is currently sitting on the “Skills for Justice” Working Group considering the skills required for those collecting, writing and giving evidence. Penny has particular experience of delivering learning outcomes based training and the use of competency based assessment criteria, as well as the settling and marking of assessments.

Legal Experience Training runs a number of accredited courses including the Advanced Professional Award in Expert Witness Evidence (APAEWE) and also the Advanced Professional Certificate in Legal Skills in Investigation (APCIL). These courses are accredited by Edexcel, approved by the Forensic Science Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Penny was formerly with Kingsley Napley Solicitors in London and then a senior lecturer in criminal law, civil and criminal litigation, with the College of Law, the largest provider of legal education in the UK. She was head of the employment law team in London. She also trained advocacy, negotiating and legal research. Penny has worked as a training consultant for The Law Society and BPP Law School. She was Director of CPD at The City Law School (formerly The Inns of Court School of Law) and responsible for setting up and developing a number of courses for both lawyers and non lawyers, including the Higher Rights of Audience and the Professional Skills Course accredited by The Law Society, The Tax Diploma accredited by City University, Essential Negotiating Skills, Advocacy, Drafting, Report Writing, In The Witness Box (now called Witness Familiarisation), Law, Evidence, Procedure and Best Practice for Investigators, Expert Witness Report Writing and Expert Witness in the Witness Box.

Penny was a Company Director at Bond Solon Training Ltd, a medium sized commercial training company, for 8 years. Penny led the legal team and had overall responsibility for working with clients and the legal team to design and deliver training.

Penny has extensive experience of designing and delivering accredited training for experts, professional and factual witnesses .She pioneered the development of training for investigators and worked with law firms, accountants, NHS Trusts, Public and Professional Bodies, Local Authorities, Regulatory Bodies, the Police, Social Services departments, Fire and Rescue Services and many blue-chip companies throughout the UK (and Internationally).