Product Description
Did you know. . .. . . that arson has been described as the fastest-growing crime in America?. . . that arson is the most expensive crime committed?. . . that over 8 billion dollars was estimated lost due to fires in 1994?. . . that an estimated 86,000 structure fires of incendiary or suspicious origin were reported in 1994?David Redsicker provides these statistics and much more, including practical methods, information, and advice for investigating these types of crimes, in Practical Fire and Arson Investigation, Second Edition.Extensively rewritten second edition of this practical manual - More than 40% new material!Practical Fire and Arson Investigation, Second Edition is a significantly revised, updated, and expanded new edition of this best-selling book in the Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations series, edited by Vernon Geberth. As in the first edition, specific details on the basic principles are presented, and advanced applied techniques for conducting a thorough fire and arson investigation are detailed. New topics covered in the Second Edition include:oExtensively rewritten chapters on determining origin and cause, eliminating accidental fire causes, investigating fatal fires and vehicular fires, and documenting the fire/crime sceneoFire scene photography using "painting with light"oImportance of evidence preservation and analysis in civil litigation of liability and product defects ... Read more

Product Description
Combating Arson-for-Profit: Advanced Techniques for Investigators is a practical, step-by-step, how-to arson investigator's guide.It provides a model for structuring investigations with emphasis on planning, coordination, and scrupulous attention to records and details. The authors tell how to conduct an investigation and how to collect and handle documentary evidence.They discuss advanced investigative techniques including flow-charting, link analysis, and computer-assisted investigations.

Combating Arson-for-Profit describes how to prepare and present a case when the investigation is completed and includes Anatomy of an Arson-for-Profit Investigation, a fictionalized case based on an actual federal prosecution. The book also includes a companion computer disk with forms, illustrations, and investigative flowchart.

This second edition is a complete update, providing the scope and detail of information required to further the expertise of any individual or group conducting arson-for-profit investigations. Combating Arson-for-Profit will be useful to: Fire and arson investigators Fire science and criminal justice instructors Prosecutors, defense counsels, and judicial officials involved in arson investigations Insurance investigators. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

combating arson.
himynameischrisjcoombesandiamafirefighterandarsonisnotgoodincalifornia.arsonisabigcombatforfirefighters.iwishthateverearsonistknows howhardwefightthefire'stheydontwantustogetthembutwewillfightfirewithfire.. andtheywillseethatwe aregoingtogetthemandmack thempay. thankyouchrisj coombes..

An authoritative, easy-to-follow investigative resource.
Combating Arson for Profit is a most welcome guide to the investigation offraud.As an insurance company S.I.U. investigator, I recommend this toall those involved in these complex cases.The reader will discover how toconduct the "paper chase", document evidence, write professionalreports, and assure the most comprehensive case for court.Highlyrecommended!

A must for any serious arson investigator or academician
Having used the 1st edition for many years, I was most interested todiscover that the 2nd edition has been revised to include the latest intechnological innovations including computer modeling.An invaluablepublication!

quiteinformative a must buy for the serious arson invest.
This is one of the first books written in regards to this type of arson.The civilized world loses billions of dollars every year in property and lives do to this crime.This book should be read by all serious arson fighters ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, published by Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 4262 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Juvenile arson: the importance of early intervention.(Cover Story)
Author: Paul Zipper
Publication: The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Volume: 74Issue: 4Page: 1(9)

Article Type: Cover Story

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
These days, firesetting and arson seem to be on theincrease. The detection of arson cases can resultonly from the thorough investigation of all fires. Currently, firefighters play a vital role in fireinvestigation. Indeed they are the first arrivals tothe fire scene. They will need to be observant forthe different indicators at the fire scene. Therewill be those who will judge if the fire wasnatural, accidentally or malicious. They will warnin this last case the competence of more suitablepeople: policemen, forensics, dog handlers? Therefore until the ?fire investigators? arrive, thefirefighters will be their eyes and ears; what theysee and hear will be the key to future success. The ?Fire Investigators? will have to be aware ofinformation picked up by firefighters. It is whycommunication between firefighters and ?FireInvestigators? is a basic requirement.The purpose of this book is to enable firefighers,through the substantial nature of the informationgiven in this report, to recognise the first signsof arson and to behave properly at the fire scene toenable a further examination. ... Read more

Product Description
From the big cities to dense forests to disasters at sea, here are the toughest cases from real arson investigators who seek out the truth amid the ashes to catch scheming profiteers, vicious vandals, and diabolical pyromaniacs. Photo insert. . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good Informational Book
If you are a rank amateur and just want to get some really interesting facts and information based on 'model' fires that occurred in real life, this book is a great book to start with.

I purchased the book with an interest in just enough details to allow me to 'talk the language' in a book I am writing where an arson investigator is one of the characters.

I think you'll find this book as fascinating as I did.

great for arson-investigators-to-be
If you are already interested in fire fighting and arson investigation in particular, then you will find this book very interesting, with lots of real life stories. A novice however will find little excitement and too much in depth information to keep up interest.

Hidden Treasure in the Writing
The stories are great and do justice to the field of fire investigation.What surprised me was the quality of the writing! Usually technical subjects do not attract talented authors. This is an undiscovered gem in the realm of literature.

Good interpretation of the job of an arson/fire investigator
I have been in the fire service for over 30 years and the past 23 as an arson investigator in a large metropolitan city.The authors have taken the time in most cases to listen to the people actually doing the work on aday-to-day basis.They are to be commended for this.For the personhaving questions what this job is all about, this book will spell it out infrank detail.This is a subject that is interesting but all too oftenoverlooked by most writers.

A Great Interperation of the Fire Service
I have been a firefighter for a year now.My girlfriend purchased thisbook for me for my birthday.While I don't have a lot of expierence inArson Investigations this book vividly and correctly portrays the way afire scene looks.Too many times people view firefighting and publicsafety as a "flashy" job.This book portrays the incident scenein a sober, but exciting way.A must have for anyone interested in theFire Service and Law Enforcement! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book is outdated, wrong and dangerous.
This book, with its scientific sounding title, was the backbone of the arson cirriculum at the National Fire Academy at Emmitsburg, MD for over a decade.The myths that this book validated have caused literally hundreds of fire investigators to become misinformed.These investigators then passed on the misinformation, and used the misinformation to obtain arson convictions of innocent people. Example 1.The standard time-temperature curve, extracted from an ASTM test for determining fire resistance of rated assemblies, is set forth as the norm for structure fires.Fires which burn faster can therefore be said to be accelerated.(Completely untrue). Example 2.There is a photograph on p 73 showing what a room that has flashed over looks like.Unfortunately, the bottom half of the room is completely unburned, meaning that flashover could not possibly have occurred. There are literally dozens of other misinformed statements in this book.Richard Custer, former chair of NFPA 921 ordered this textbook for a class shortly after it came out.The title sounded good.He ended up using the text to show his students everything that was NOT true about fire investigation. Do not buy this book ... Read more

Product Description
A look at the jobs of New York City firefighters offers firefighting anecdotes, including an account of people trapped in a burning building, a firefighter shot at the scene of a fire, and a faceoff with an arsonist. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent ride along with FDNY's finest inspectors
This is the stories of how extremely skilled investigators solve one of the most difficult crimes Arson.This book takes you into the temntaments and streets with the investigators of the Fire Department of New York's Arson Buearu.This collection of true stories details theoften monotonus and sometimes life threatening cases that the men and women have solved, and also examines the tradegy that arson can wrought on familes of the victims and the fire fighters them selves.A don't miss for anybody interested in fire investigations. ... Read more

Product Description
This "alpine Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (Outside) and Denver Post bestseller explores an unsolved mystery and uncovers the dark underside of the new West.

In October, 1998 an arson caused $12 million in damage at Vail, the country's largest ski area. A shadowy radical environmental group called the Earth Liberation Front claimed credit for what the FBI called the costliest act of ecoterrorism in U.S. history. But as it turns out, credible suspects were everywhere, since Vail was owned by a New York investment firm that had alienated a wide swath of Colorado's high country residents. "Who couldn't have done this?" wondered a local sheriff's investigator.

More than a clever whodunit, Powder Burn scrapes away the glitz of America's premier ski destination to reveal a cautionary tale about runaway opulence and rapid change in the New West. As the Denver Post put it, "Vail is a microcosm of the disputes over growth raging across the Rockies, and Glick's take on the fire helps to fan the flames."

Packed with odd characters and paranoia, with beautiful mountains and despicable actions, Powder Burn is about corporate greed, the environment, a small town and a mysterious unsolved crime. As Vail celebrates its fortieth anniversary with a full season of hoopla and self-promotion, this book makes compelling reading for skiers, true crime enthusiasts, or anyone interested in the environmental, social, and political issues raised by the evolution of the new West.Amazon.com Review
On the face of it, this is the story of unsolved arson at a high-glamour resort, a mystery packed with suspects that range from crusty ski bums to radical tree huggers to the resort's own corporate honchos. But underlying this entertaining true-life plot is a greater theme that is playing out across America. Here, tensions mount between the progress-minded shareholders of Vail Resorts Inc., environmentalists, and locals who simply pine for the days when they weren't priced out of having a meal--or a life--in Vail, Colorado. Elsewhere, similar hostility brews over conflicting interests in pricey tourist regions like Taos, New Mexico; the Florida Keys; and the Hamptons of New York. So while Powder Burn is an intriguing tale on its own, it also serves as a snapshot of our country as it struggles with its final growing pains. The modern corporatization of Vail Mountain is in direct contrast to its past, when a hard-drinking fellow could ride his horse into a bar and turn himself into local legend. Daniel Glick, a special correspondent for Newsweek, masterfully uses his reporter's eye for detail to deliver the spirit and breathtaking scenery of the Rocky Mountain West. He introduces personalities in rapid-fire succession, but, to his credit, the reader never feels overwhelmed or confused. The descriptions are so vivid--from the environmentalist tracking lynx paw prints through the snow to the vacationing company president staking out a Disney World pay phone as he receives updates on the 1998 fire's damage--that they remain fixed in the reader's mind as the story unfolds. It's a story that makes interesting reading for skiers, environmentalists, or anyone intrigued by the unfolding drama in our last wild places. --Jodi Mailander Farrell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Intriguing, but too much vulgarity and profanity
The book is interesting as an unsolved mystery, but everyone cannot be as guilty as they sound.I struggled a bit with the writing, and did not like all of the vulgarity and profanity.It did not add anything to the book, except to make me feel like I was overhearing conversations in a cheap bar.It was also apparent from the start that Glick does not like rich people (some peoople might call them successful).He could hardly talk about them in a civil tone.He used phrases like "Outrageous luxury", and "Trophyest of trophy homes."

Powder Burn
Powder Burn was a GREAT book that provided me with the information that i needed to know about the mystery of who tourched vail. I learned some stuff in my political geography class about this that is what got me interested in it and made me read it. I recommend it to all people who like mystery books with a small twist of history.

Rocky Mountain Whodunnit
Vail/Beaver Creek is probably my favorite vacation spot on earth in the summertime...about the only time of year I can afford it (and even then barely).This is a fascinating book, part history of Vail, part meditation on the issues surrounding growth in the affluent west (ie, how a resort for the rich and famous affects the locals and the environment), but largely a whodunnit surrounding the 1998 arson on Vail Mountain.

I wouldn't go so far at to call this a "Rocky Mountain version of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' " - Glick's writing isn't that smooth and his character development isn't that deep.But I am fascinated by this part of the country and it's a good story that he has to work with.In the end he presents all the available evidence and lets you draw your own conclusions - probably the best way to end considering that the arson itself remains unsolved.

Great Title, Great Epilogue
My room mate asked me why it was taking so long to read this book, and my reply was that it was hard to stumble through Glick's clumsy writing. My interest, however, lay in my previous residency in CO and my interest in the subject, so I struggled through the chapters (many with very clever titles). I lived near Telluride for several years, and watched many of the same actions take place as did in Vail, re: the disparity of money and living conditions and in the attitudes of the haves and have-nots. Environmental issues are just one of the many issues in combat with residents and eco-groups against many of these new conglomerate ski companies, some with owners based far from operations.

Glick does a great job with the interviews and investigation; but his long, run-on sentences left much to be desired. If I didn't have an interest in his viewpoint on the subject, I would have put the book down in the third chapter. If you want the gist of it all, just read the epilogue, which - IMO - contains the best information and most well-written part of the book. This, alone, is worth the money, as well as the information. I'll never drive past Vail again without remembering the issues and the personal stories in this book.

Long live the lynx.

Powder Burn
Dan Glick writes an impressive highly interesting treatise on the 1998 arsons on Vail Mountain.This book not only covers the fires but also the money lust and greed of Vail Associates (VA) and serves as a political-social commentary on big business in small Colorado mountain towns.For Coloradans and residents of the Rocky Mountain west, those interested in current social activism, and money hungy Wall Street-ers this is a must read. ... Read more