Areas served · Montana
Forensic Engineering in Great Falls
In and around Great Falls
What we investigate in Great Falls
Great Falls loss investigations turn on wind and cold. Chinooks off the Rocky Mountain Front rank this among the windiest cities in the country, and a long freezing winter works on roofs and foundations for months. We document what actually failed, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours with no travel charges.
The conditions we see in Great Falls
The Rocky Mountain Front puts Great Falls in the path of chinook winds and downslope high-wind events, with warm surges that can swing the temperature 40 to 50 degrees in hours. High Wind Warnings from the Great Falls office regularly bring city gusts near 60 to 65 mph, while gusts along the immediate east slopes run higher. That wind lifts roofing, loosens fasteners, and loads walls in ways that later get read as ordinary wear. The dry continental climate adds roughly 58 inches of snow a year with winter averages near 20 degrees, so snow load and a long heating season stress the structure at the same time.
The housing stock here is older than the Montana average: a median construction year of 1965, about 66 percent of owner-occupied units built before 1980, and roughly 16 percent predating 1940, per the Grow Great Falls housing assessment. The mix runs from pre-war brick and wood-frame homes near downtown and the Missouri River to mid-century subdivisions and railroad-era commercial buildings. Aging wall assemblies and long-settled foundations mean many losses combine long-term movement with the triggering event of wind, snow load, or water.
How we help in Great Falls
The evaluations Great Falls cases usually call for
- Wind, snow-load, and foundation evaluation
When a roof lifts, a wall racks, or a slab cracks in this climate, the cause can be chinook wind, accumulated snow load, deep frost, or a long-settled foundation in older stock. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the site conditions together and document which force is responsible.
Our structural engineering services- Storm and water loss investigation
After a high-wind event or a winter water loss, we determine whether the damage came from wind, snowmelt intrusion, or a condition that predated the storm. That distinction decides the claim, so we ground every finding in the physical evidence rather than assumption.
Our forensic engineering services
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Great Falls
A long, cold heating season keeps furnaces, wood stoves, and space heaters running for months across an older pre-1980 housing stock, and heating and electrical fires climb with the hours those systems work. When a chinook or downslope wind event is running, it can push a fire fast and stress overhead lines, so a loss that starts small does not stay small, and the cause is rarely obvious in what the fire leaves behind.
Our NAFI-certified investigators work to NFPA 921. They read the scene methodically, trace burn and char patterns back to the area of origin, evaluate the heating, electrical, and mechanical systems, and rule causes out until the evidence supports an accidental or incendiary conclusion. We preserve the evidence before it is lost, document the finding, and testify to it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Heating-system fires
- Electrical and appliance fires
- Vehicle fires
- Industrial and railroad-era building fires
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Great Falls, Montana
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Is wind or snow load behind roof damage in Great Falls?
It can be either, and sometimes both. Chinook gusts off the Rocky Mountain Front and a heavy annual snow load both stress roofs and framing. We evaluate the damage pattern and the conditions to determine the cause rather than assume it.
Can you assess damage after a hard freeze or a winter water loss?
Yes. Much of the structural evidence remains after a freeze or a winter water loss, and we evaluate the foundation, framing, and finishes to document what the event caused versus what predated it.
Do you charge travel to reach Great Falls?
No. We work Great Falls-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.