Only highly experienced professionals can perform the complex tasks of uncovering the origin and cause of a fire or explosion. By evaluating the circumstances surrounding what happened and why, VERTEX is able to provide our clients with the technical expertise needed for them to determine coverage in a timely manner, reduce claim costs, combat fraud, and ultimately achieve closure with a solid, court defensible understanding of events and outcomes.
Using a full service approach and in a manner consistent with the Scientific Method and guidelines of NFPA 921, our NFPA 1033 qualified experts apply the highest level of professional competence in their investigative skills and techniques. VERTEX provides evidence collection, chain of custody as well as incident reporting, providing our customers with solid and reliable determination of origin and cause that will withstand the challenges of litigation.
Through scientific analysis, VERTEX can quickly and accurately determine whether the root cause of the fire or explosion was due to an electrical or mechanical component, human error, natural events, or arson.
VERTEX experts assist the insurance client and litigator by having highly trained and qualified professionals conduct site investigations that can determine the potential existence of third party culpability. VERTEX experts are experienced in reporting, depositions, and court testimony regarding fire and explosion incidents.
Our experts are available to not only investigate the origin and cause of structure fires, but also fires that have taken place in motor vehicles, trucks, industrial equipment and marine vessels.
Origin & Cause Investigation of Fire at Auto Repair Shop
National Division Manager, Fire Investigation
Henry Stormer, IAAI-CFI
Henry Stormer is the National Division Manager for VERTEX’s Fire Investigation Division. His primary responsibilities include management of origin and cause investigations nationwide for the insurance industry as well as conducting Cause and Origin investigations of fire and explosions. Mr. Stormer is a fire expert with over 30 years of experience investigating fires and explosions both in the public and private sectors. His fields of expertise include: fire and explosion investigations, origin and cause, subrogation, failure analysis, evidence collection and preservation, fire code analysis and research, crime scene investigations, and arson investigations.
August 2, 2018
VERTEX’s office in the DC Metro area has been steadily growing since 2013. Led by Michael Plainte, the team includes experts in Forensics, Engineering Design, Construction, and Environmental services. VERTEX welcomes their newest member, David Berry, Division Manager of Remediation. To learn more about VERTEX’s Services, call 888.298.5162 or submit an inquiry.
July 25, 2018
VERTEX will be exhibiting at CDLA’18 in Telluride, Colorado on July 26th and 27th. If you are attending, be sure to stop by booth #18 and say hello to Ryan Phillips, Zach Bradshaw and Barrett Stephens. This year’s topic is Health + Wellness in The Law. Each summer attorneys, judges and other legal experts alike come together…
July 16, 2018
On Wednesday, July 11th, VERTEX Sr. Project Manager, Vince Harriman, and VERTEX Project Manager, Kevin DiMarco, attended a topping out ceremony in Chadds Ford, PA. General Contractor, Cutler Associates, Inc. of Malvern PA and their steel subcontractor, O’Rourke & Sons of West Chester PA, hoisted the final beam into place just before noon on behalf of…
June 28, 2018
VERTEX is proud to be ranked #31 in ENR’s Top 100 Construction Management-for-Fee Firms. Companies are ranked based on total 2017 revenue in $ millions for construction-management or project/program-management services performed as a professional service for a fee. As reported by ENR, the market for professional services remains strong, as can be seen in the results…
June 1, 2018
Zweig Group recently announced their 2018 Hot Firm List and 2018 Best Firms to Work For Award. VERTEX is proud to be ranked on both lists! The 2018 Hot Firm List honors the fastest growing firms in the architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting industries. Firms are ranked on three-year growth in revenue, by both percentage and…
July 3, 2018
Fireworks are synonymous with the celebration of Independence Day. It’s almost impossible to make it through the holiday without seeing some kind of fireworks display. But, even small fireworks can cause serious damage. Each July 4th, thousands of people, most often children and teens, are injured while using consumer fireworks. Despite the dangers of fireworks, few…
April 11, 2018
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), over 500,000 people are treated each year for ladder related falls. Whether you use a ladder out in the field, in your workplace or at home, safety should always be your number one priority. At VERTEX, safety is part of our culture. We recently hosted…
February 21, 2018
Introduction As forensic engineers, it is often our responsibility to assess the structural integrity of a building after a natural disaster or an event from unfortunate circumstances. It is also our responsibility to determine the necessary repairs that need to be made to the structural framing of the building in order to return it to…
September 28, 2017
As we enter autumn it’s a great time to begin preparations for a fire safe winter in buildings and homes. 1 in 6 home fires in the United States are attributed to heating equipment, as are 1 in 5 residential fire deaths. The single most important action that can be taken by home and building…
July 24, 2017
A teenage child of a Massachusetts homeowner was doing a load of laundry during the evening hours of March 19, 2017. The clothes washing and drying appliances were located in the basement of the home and had been installed by a major appliance retailer approximately one year prior to the date of the fire. The…
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