Judge Rejects Insurance Company’s Bid to Use ‘Fire Modeling’ Results at Trial
In an insurance dispute involving a 2006 residential fire, a New York judge has barred the defendant insurance company from introducing the results of a computerized "fire modeling" program, which purportedly corroborate the company's claim the fire was deliberately set. The Fire Dynamics Simulator recreates the growth and spread of a fire based on such factors as the furnishings, the walls, the floors and the ceilings. The judge found fire models have not yet been accepted by the relevant scientific community.
