From Fear to Forensics: Fire, Evidence and the Arc Damage Debate withh Melanie Cairns

What if a childhood fear could become a powerful career? In this episode, Melanie Cairns, P.Eng., CFEI traces her path from being scared of fire to leading investigations powered by engineering rigour. She shows how treating every scene like it’s your last sharpens preparation, why meticulous documentation (across 600+ cases) is non-negotiable, and what the work really looks like, less glamour and gadgets, more grit, debris, and extreme conditions. Curiosity threads through her story too: a fascination with fire trucks that grew into a purpose-driven vocation.We also explore how to turn fear into focus, the role of family support, and what it means to navigate this industry as a woman. And we tackle the controversial arc damage question head-on: drawing on her electrical engineering expertise, Melanie explains how arc effects on steel enclosures can be the result of fire, not the cause.https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-cairns-p-eng-cfei-96688a121/