Date: Dec 29, 2016

Meagher & Geer attorney David Bridges authored the article titled, “Fraud Squad. Kitchen Fire Claims: The Cost of Reliability” published in the December 2016 issue of Claims Management magazine.

Kitchen fires present serious challenges for insurers and their claims professionals, actuaries, SIU personnel, forensic accountants, and property and liability teams. Per the U.S. Fire Administration and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), every year, cooking equipment fires in one- or two-family homes and apartments or other multifamily housing account for about 46 percent of all reported fires, 5,190 injuries, 480 fatalities, and more than $1.1 billion in property damage. Read more.

David is an attorney in our Catastrophic Loss practice group, focusing on complex civil litigation, including fires, explosions, structural failures, fire protection system failures, product failures and other catastrophic losses and construction-related incidents across the United States. His assignments include forensic investigations of first-property and other catastrophic losses, including fires/explosions involving industrial, commercial and residential facilities.

Prior to joining Meagher & Geer as an associate, David was a Technical Specialist, Fire Scientist with our Catastrophic Loss practice group. David received his JD degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law, operating on the southeastern coastal states as a Technical Specialist on behalf of various Meagher & Geer clients. In his undergraduate studies he focused on science, with emphasis on fire protection engineering. He has worked on numerous property loss assignments across the United States, in accordance with his status as an International Association of Arson Investigation Certified Fire Investigator (IAAI-CFI). David is also a North Carolina Certified Fire Investigator (CFI).

Before joining the Catastrophic Loss group at Meagher & Geer, David had extensive experience as a fire/arson agent /K-9 handler throughout the southeastern United States.  He was also employed by the North Carolina Department of Justice (NCDOJ) within the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI).  Further, in addition to the investigation of structure fire/explosions, David has also participated in wildfire “origin and cause” workshops provided by the United States Department of Homeland Security/Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and North Carolina Division of Forest Resources (Kinston, NC).

David has conducted examinations of over 1,000 fires as an investigator.  He has been an instructor for more than 36 live training fires.  In addition, he has served as an investigator in eight (8) bombing/explosion incidents. He also serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and National Fire Academy (NFA). The courses focus on origin and cause investigation, interview and interrogation, and expert witness-courtroom testimony techniques.