Fire Investigation

SPEAKER:

Tim Donis
District Chief, Fire Investigations
Toronto Fire Services

Tim Donis is currently the District Chief in the Fire Investigations Division with Toronto Fire Services. He has been with Toronto Fire Services for 6.5 years, where he has investigated 184 fires. After graduating from Seneca College in the Fire Protection Engineering Technology (CO-OP) program and the Preservice Firefighter Education and Training program in 2010 and 2011, he has returned to assist current students in obtaining certification in NFPA 1031 Fire Inspector Level 1. He also works towards assisting multiple municipal fire departments in the GTA and members of Toronto Police FIS and CIB sections, through facilitating the delivery of the NFPA 1033 Certified Fire and Explosion investigator provincial certification course. Tim comes from a code consulting background, having worked as a Fire Protection Technologist. He has also gained experience in fire prevention and emergency response through eight years at Canadas Wonderland where he obtained the position of Area Supervisor for Fire, Safety and First Aid for the amusement park.

SYNOPSIS:

Tim will discuss the basics of fire investigation, including fire scene safety (transitioning from operations to fire investigations), entry rights for fire departments and powers upon entry, including heavy machinery usage, methodologies employed in determining an area of origin, cause determination utilizing NFPA 921, and the sifting and delayering process done by Toronto Fire Services prior to the insurance industry investigators/personnel obtaining access to the fire scene. This discussion will include the steps taken to prevent occupant re-entry once the municipal investigation is completed. He will discuss how reports on cause and origin are prepared by the TFS Fire Investigations Division and distributed to various stakeholders to summarize the Fire Departments Findings.

ITINERARY: