Schroeder Fire Professional Summary

ROBERT ALLEN SCHROEDER

Dr. Robert Schroeder’s career in the fire protection/fire science field began in 1972 when he trained as a structural and crash rescue firefighter for the United States Air Force/MN Air National Guard. Since that time he has worked as a firefighter, fire investigator/fire protection engineer and fire safety scientist. “In many ways,” he says, “I am much like a Medical Examiner for fire and explosions.”

He expanded his formal training in the profession including education and degrees at Oklahoma State University as well as formal instruction, research work and full-scale testing at University of California at Berkeley. Today he remains one of an elite group of a dozen fire safety engineers in the country trained at that University and holds multiple degrees in areas related to fire and explosion analysis.
In 1986, he started Schroeder Fire, Inc.¹, and continues to be the principal of the company. Since then Dr. Schroeder has investigated and analyzed catastrophic fires and explosions around the Americas, ranging from a high-rise hotel fire in Puerto Rico and a diaper factory fire in Argentina to a Civil Air Patrol plane crash in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and an agricultural facility in Northwestern Canada.

His primary practice includes post fire/explosion analysis of structures, vehicles, processing equipment and material response to fire. His extensive background and first-hand experience in training, research and experimentation have frequently qualified him an expert witness in state and federal courts throughout the United States as well as in the Crown Court in Canada. His testimony – like that of his extensive, 30-plus-year career – is often focused on:

• Fire cause and origin
• Explosion analysis (principally deflagrations)
• Fire and explosion scene reconstruction
• The systematic dissection and deconstruction of impacted equipment and buildings
• Construction material’s response to fire
• The spread of fire within buildings and other structures
• The evaluation of materials, assemblies and systems as related to fire safety
• The application of codes, standards and testing as related to the aforementioned
  subject areas
• Evaluation and response of fire detection and other fixed fire protection systems
• The design and execution of small and full scale fire testing.

Dr. Schroeder holds the following degrees:

• Associate of Science in Fire Protection from Oklahoma State University in 1977
• Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University in 1978;
• Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995
• Doctor of Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1999.

He is a member of the following professional societies and organizations:

• Society of Fire Protection Engineers 
• American Society of Safety Engineers
• International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators
• International Association of Arson Investigators
• International Association of Fire Safety Science
• The Institute of Fire Engineers
• International Fire Service Training Association
• National Association of Subrogation Professionals
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers

He also has served as a committee member and contributing author to the International Fire Service Training Association. In 1986, he was appointed to the advisory committee to the School of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology, Oklahoma State University and served until 1995. He is currently on the Board of Directors for NASP, and been involved in the creation of technical papers, reports, and articles for professional publications and organizations with global distribution. Dr. Schroeder presents on a regular basis.

¹ Pka: Schroeder and Williams Ltd.

 

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Dr. Robert A. Schroeder's Dissertation

Dr. Schroeder's dissertation contains empirical research on the behavior of wood, concrete, and gypsum when exposed to fire. He argues that the post-fire analysis of gypsum wallboard provides the most discrete and discernable means of identifying the temperatures, intensity and duration of fire exposure when compared to wood and concrete. This dissertation is over 200 pages long, and contains many color photographs and data plots.

The full dissertation can be viewed here.