The author is Scott Gabriel Knowles, an Associate Professor and Department Head at Drexel University. He specializes in the history of technology, disasters, and public policy. His work looks at the policies and technologies created for emergency response.
Followed up on: sprinkler systems, current investigations/ findings from 9/11 investigation into building failures, and policies regarding fire codes for buildings
Disaster investigations look at the emergency response that followed the incident, either the timing or actions taken to save human lives. There's more about the investigations calling for improved emergency preparedness; policies and technology development to prevent disasters such as the Hague Street Explosion (1850) which involved a faulty boiler (and other factors) and the Iroquois theater fire (1903) which led to changed theater building policies.
Research came from newspaper articles, surviving letters, and other texts were used to produce the argument in the report regarding disaster investigation.
Argument supported by several secondhand historical accounts, other reports, and a comparison to how the 9/11 investigation was handled.
The main argument is that previous disasters involving burning buildings in US history and the subsequent investigations affected emergency response, policy making, and disaster investigation today. These past events can be applied to the 9/11 terrorist attack and investigation of the buildings afterward.