The Fire Research Laboratory (FRL) is part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), an investigative agency within the United States Department of Justice. Located in Beltsville, Maryland, the FRL is an innovative partnership among law enforcement, fire services, public safety agencies, academia and the private sector that uses the most advanced scientific, technical, educational, and training methods to make the ATF and its partners leaders in fire investigation science to serve and protect the public.
The Fire Research Laboratory does the following:
- Conducts scientific research that validates fire scene indicators and improves fire scene reconstruction and fire evidence analysis;
- Supports fire and arson investigations and the resolution of fire related crimes;
- Develops improved investigative and prosecution procedures using scientifically validated methods that integrate the assets of the ATF and its partners to enhance fire investigation personnel expertise;
- Maintains a central repository for fire investigative research data that will be disseminated throughout the fire investigation community;
- Develops an internationally recognized research and education center for the advancement of knowledge, technology transfer and case support related to fire cause investigation and fire scene reconstruction.
Famous quotes containing the words fire, research and/or laboratory:
“Love and hatred are not blind, but are blinded by the fire they bear within themselves.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The research on gender and morality shows that women and men looked at the world through very different moral frameworks. Men tend to think in terms of “justice” or absolute “right and wrong,” while women define morality through the filter of how relationships will be affected. Given these basic differences, why would men and women suddenly agree about disciplining children?”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)
“The best work of artists in any age is the work of innocence liberated by technical knowledge. The laboratory experiments that led to the theory of pure color equipped the impressionists to paint nature as if it had only just been created.”
—Nancy Hale (b. 1908)