Areas served · Colorado
Forensic Engineering in Colorado Springs
In and around Colorado Springs
What we investigate in Colorado Springs
Wildfire pushing out of the foothills and Black Forest into the wildland-urban interface, and the expansive Pierre Shale claystone that heaves foundations across the city, drive most of the Colorado Springs losses we are called to evaluate. We document what actually failed, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours with no travel charges.
The conditions we see in Colorado Springs
Wildfire is a top-tier natural hazard here. Ponderosa pine and Gambel oak carry fire along the foothills and through the Black Forest, much of the city sits in the wildland-urban interface, and FEMA and First Street rate wildfire risk across Colorado Springs as high. The record is close at hand: the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire burned about 18,247 acres against the west edge of the city and destroyed 346 homes in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, and the 2013 Black Forest Fire just northeast destroyed at least 509 homes, the most destructive in Colorado history at the time.
Below the surface, the city bears on expansive Pierre Shale claystone and bentonite beds that swell when wet and shrink when dry, cracking foundations, slabs, driveways, and utility lines. Bentonite samples along the Front Range have swelled 39 to 43 percent against 2 to 8 percent for ordinary silty claystone, and the Colorado Geological Survey reports that the hazard is worst where those beds dip steeply and adjacent beds move differentially. Housing is predominantly wood-frame single-family sitting near 6,035 feet in Climate Zone 5, so roofs carry real snow load and framing works through deep frost and hard freeze-thaw, and roofing across the city is heavily hail-exposed.
How we help in Colorado Springs
The evaluations Colorado Springs cases usually call for
- Foundation, heave, and snow-load evaluation
When a slab lifts or a wall cracks in a stair-step pattern, the cause can be expansive claystone heave, differential movement over steeply dipping bedrock, snow load, deep frost, or a construction defect. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the soil behavior together and document which one is responsible.
Our structural engineering services- Hail, wind, and post-fire flood investigation
After a hailstorm, a high-wind event, or flash flooding off a burn scar, we determine whether the damage came from that event or from a condition that predated it. That distinction decides the claim, so we ground it in the physical evidence rather than assumption.
Our forensic engineering services
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Colorado Springs
The wildland-urban interface drives the fires that make headlines here. In ponderosa pine and Gambel oak, wind-driven embers ignite homes well ahead of the flame front, the way Waldo Canyon reached Mountain Shadows in 2012 and Black Forest tore through its namesake in 2013. A long, cold heating season near 6,035 feet adds a second source of loss: furnaces, wood stoves, and space heaters run for months, and heating and electrical faults follow. When a fire moves fast or starts in an old system, the origin evidence is easy to lose, and that is what a claim or case turns on.
Our NAFI-certified investigators build every determination on NFPA 921. They examine the scene systematically, trace the burn and char patterns back to the area of origin, evaluate the electrical and mechanical systems and any implicated utility equipment, and rule out ignition sources until the physical evidence supports one, accidental or incendiary. The investigator preserves that evidence before wind, weather, and firefighting erase it, records the finding in a written report, and stands behind it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Wildland-urban interface and ember-driven fires
- Heating-system and wood-stove fires
- Electrical and appliance fires
- Vehicle and utility-line fires
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Colorado Springs, Colorado
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Is foundation heave in Colorado Springs from the claystone or something else?
Often the claystone, but not always. Expansive Pierre Shale and bentonite beds swell and shrink enough to lift slabs and crack walls, and the movement is worst where the beds dip steeply, but drainage, plumbing leaks, and construction defects produce similar patterns. We evaluate the evidence before assigning a cause.
Can you tell wildfire or ember damage from damage that was already there?
Yes. Wildland-urban interface fires deposit embers and burn structures in patterns we can read, and separating that from an interior ignition or from pre-existing wear is a core part of a fire loss investigation in the Colorado Springs area.
Do you charge travel to reach Colorado Springs?
No. We work Colorado Springs-area cases from our Omaha lab and Los Angeles office with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
Have a loss that needs answers?
Tell us what happened. An engineer, not a call center, will review your case.