FIA6

FIR 4305, Fire Investigation and Analysis 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Summarize the investigative process for various types of fires. 6.1 Identify the major challenges associated with investigating fires in wildlands, manufactured

housing, vehicles, and boats or ships.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

6.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 7, pp. 440–520 Unit VI Essay

Reading Assignment Chapter 7: Fires by Property Type, pp. 440–520

Unit Lesson Fire Investigation Basics for All Fires Icove and Haynes (2018) note that arson is one of the oldest crimes, endangers the lives of victims and first responders, and costs over a billion dollars a year in the United States. We tend to think of structure fires when considering these facts, but wildland, vehicle, and ship fires are a major part of this problem as well. The goals of fire scene investigations of all fire types are the same—to determine the cause and origin of the fire. The key components of the investigation are listed below.

• Examine the fire scene.

• Collect and preserve physical evidence.

• Document the evidence (e.g., photographs, diagrams, maps, notes, recordings).

• Reconstruct the fire scene.

• Evaluate and analyze available data, and test possible hypotheses.

• Determine origin and cause. The investigation focuses on answering the questions below.

• Where did the fire start?

• What was the cause of the fire (i.e., how was the fire started)?

• What was the initial fuel and means of ignition? What was ignited? What ignited it? How did the fuel and ignition source come together?

• Was the fire accidental or intentional?

• If the fire was intentionally set, what was the motive?

• If the fire was accidental, what factors contributed to its ignition or spread?

• If life was lost, what contributed to the death? Was it the rapidity of the fire spread or the toxic gases and smoke? Why or how did others survive?

• How did fire protection equipment or systems function to minimize losses or fail to protect the property?

UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE

Other Fire Classification Investigations

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You should easily note that the keys to the investigation and the questions you are looking to answer as the investigator are not affected by what type of fire you are investigating. There are different challenges associated with each of these investigation types, but the fundamentals remain the same. Each fire must be approached as if it were a crime scene since you will generally not know for sure if it is one until much further down the road when it would be too late to go back and attempt to collect evidence, photograph the conditions, and interview some of the people who may have been witnesses to the incident. Bias Some may disagree with the textbook when the authors point out that all fires should be treated as arson fires until proven otherwise, as this can lead to expectation bias (reaching a premature conclusion without analyzing all of the available data). If the fire investigator puts blinders on and focuses only on arson, he or she could miss relevant data that could support other working hypotheses and possibly run the risk of falling into a phenomenon known as junk science, in which investigations are based on folklore or untested and unproven theories. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA, 2017) suggests not being presumptive during investigations; in other words, do not form a specific hypothesis without collecting all of the data available. All investigations should be examined without making any presumption as to the origin, ignition source, fire spread, cause, or responsibility unless the scientific method is applied and a testable hypothesis cannot be disproven. There are two forms of bias that a fire investigator should avoid at all costs, which are listed below.

• Expectation bias: This occurs when a premature conclusion is reached without examining all of the available data at a fire scene.

• Confirmation bias: This occurs when more than one working hypothesis could match the data, and the investigator attempts to prove a specific hypothesis (rather than disproving it, as should be done using proper scientific methodology).

Motives and Intent As we learned earlier, when conducting a fire investigation, motives are broken down into six classifications, which are listed below:

• vandalism (mischievous or malicious firesetting),

• excitement (to enjoy the excitement of setting and watching a fire),

• revenge (to retaliate against someone or something),

• crime concealment (to cover a separate crime up),

• profit (to gain a profit by burning something), and/or

• extremism (to use in political, social, or religious protest) (NFPA, 2017). As you think about the possible arson of a ship, you can visualize how each of the aforementioned motives could be the reason behind someone starting an arson fire. For more detailed descriptions of each of these motives, refer to Chapter 11 of your textbook. As you will recall from Unit I, the scientific method of fire investigation is a logical and iterative seven-step process; sticking to the seven steps of the scientific method will assist the fire investigator in staying on track and avoiding any predisposition to develop tunnel vision or prejudge the origin and cause of a fire. Considerations for Various Fire Types Wildland fires: 2018 saw the infamous California Camp Fire, which was the most deadly and expensive wildland fire in in the history of the United States. Over 150,000 acres of land were devastated by this fire (Sergent et al., 2018), which would lead many to wonder how we could ever determine the cause and origin of this fire or ones like it. If you consider the results of the fire, it certainly can overwhelm an investigator, but just like a large building fire, there are clues and evidence to point investigators to the area of origin, which is where they will concentrate their efforts in determining cause and origin. In some respects, the investigation of a wildland fire is simpler than that of a structure fire because the fuels involved are generally limited to naturally occurring vegetation. They are ignited by some finite source of

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heat—natural, such as lightning; accidental, such as a discarded match; or incendiary, such as an intentional ignition device. Some evidence of the source of ignition will remain unless, as with a fire that has been started with a lighter, the source has been removed from the scene. The search pattern used is critical to the successful identification of the area of origin. It involves sweeps back and forth across the burned area, progressing from above the suspected area of origin. With each sweep, macroscale indicators are identified and flagged. The area of origin is then thoroughly examined while looking for microscale indicators and possible ignition sources.

Vehicle fires: One of the biggest changes in the fire service from the 1980s to present day has been the reduction of the amount of vehicle fires that have occurred, which is a result of the move to more reliable, fuel- injected automobiles. While the incidence of this type of fire has declined during a time where more and more vehicles are operating, there were still more than 200,000 vehicle fires in 2016 (U.S. Fire Administration, n.d). In Unit V we looked at vehicle arson prevention and learned that, while the motives behind vehicle arson are largely the same as other fire types, revenge is the most common motive in vehicle arson cases. The fire investigator must be especially mindful of his or her own personal safety when investigating vehicle fires for several reasons, which are listed below.

• The vehicle may be on a roadway where traffic is moving.

• There are explosive devices on today’s vehicles with the possibility of injuring an investigator (e.g., air bags, hydraulic pistons, tires).

• There will often be fuels on the ground where you are working.

• Respiratory protection should be considered because of the products of combustion.

• There may be electrical short circuiting from fire damage to the electrical system. In addition to the documentation associated with vehicle fires, some questions that should be considered are listed below.

• When was the vehicle last operated?

• Has there been any history of mechanical problems, either recently or in the past?

• Have aftermarket systems been added to the vehicle?

• When was the last time someone worked on the vehicle?

• What type of fuel does the vehicle use, and when was it last fueled?

• When and where was the vehicle parked?

Figure 6.1: Typical fire spread (Icove & Haynes, 2018)

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• Was any type of extinguishment initiated before the arrival of the fire department?

• Was the vehicle insured?

• Was this vehicle stolen or involved in a crime? Because vehicles have a high fuel load, they are often severely damaged by the fire, which can add a challenge to determining cause and origin, but the same fundamentals apply to fire dynamics, the fire indicators, and areas of damage that are used in other types of investigations, and these will assist the investigator here as well. Motorhome and recreational vehicle (RV) fires can be grouped in with vehicles as they share many of the same characteristics with a passenger vehicle. However, they also add in the fire risks associated with a dwelling such as cooking, smoking, and appliances. Many also have propane storage to supply the cooking appliances, which adds another fuel source to the equation. Boat or ship fires: Boat and ship fires present other unique challenges to the fire investigator. While smaller boats share the same risks as passenger vehicles as far as electrical systems and fuel storage are concerned, they are different in that they are shaped in a manner that catches any fuel that may be leaking from their fuel systems. When this happens in a passenger vehicle, it typically leaks out onto the ground. This characteristic of a boat or ship makes fires more dangerous to fight and more difficult to investigate as they often burn until they reach the water line. Additionally, explosions are more likely, and the heavy fire damage typically destroys much of the evidence that the investigator is seeking. Another consideration for boats in dock is that because of the high fuel loads and the close proximity they are stored in, a boat fire often extends to several other boats before fire departments are able to arrive and make significant suppression efforts. Large ships are difficult to extinguish fires on due to the size and compartmentalization, making it difficult to get extinguishing agents into areas that cannot be hit from the outside. These large ships may carry large quantities of fuel for long voyages, and the combination of these factors often results in long-burning fires that cause heavy fire damage, again complicating the job of the fire investigator.

Hull Main body of a vessel (may be steel, aluminum, wood fiberglass, or concrete)

Deck Horizontal element separating levels

Bulkhead Vertical partition separating compartments

Bridge Location from which the vessel is steered and controlled

Cockpit In small boats, the opening in the deck from which the vessel is steered

Ladder Vertical access between decks

Passageway Horizontal access between compartments (hallway)

Porthole Transparent windows from a compartment through hull

Gallery Kitchen area

Boat Smaller water vehicle (sometimes defined as capable of being carried by a ship)

Ship Larger, oceangoing vessel

Conclusion Wildland, vehicle, RV, boat, and ship fires all present unique challenges to both the suppression and investigative efforts. These challenges should be taken into consideration, but the ultimate goal is largely the same for these types of fires as it is for structure fires; you must determine the cause and origin of the fire.

Table 6.1: Terms for ship construction, which are helpful to the fire investigator (Icove & Haynes, 2018)

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The use of the scientific method should be the basis for all investigations. The motives are largely the same although their frequency is different for different fire types. The fire behavior indicators will be interpreted similarly during the investigation, and the same principles for photographing the fire scene and collecting evidence are critical to a sound investigative effort. Keep these keys in mind when being called to an unusual type of fire for an investigation.

References Icove, D. J., & Haynes, G. A (2018). Kirk's fire investigation (8th ed.). Pearson. National Fire Protection Association. (2017). NFPA 921: Guide for fire and explosion investigations. Sergent, J., Petras, G., Gelles, K., & Bacon, J. (2018, November 21). 3 startling facts about California’s Camp

Fire. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/11/20/camp-fire-3-startling- facts/2064758002/

U.S. Fire Administration. (n.d.). U.S. fire statistics. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/

Suggested Reading In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The following article discusses the investigation that is beginning into the California Camp Fire. Some of the possibilities that have been raised regarding the cause, the team who will work this investigation, and other considerations are covered here. Johnson, K. (2018, November 16). Pinpointing a fire's origin though pebbles and pine needles. New York

Times, p. A11(L). http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A562344164/ITOF?u=oran95108&sid=ITOF&xid=359124ca

The following article discusses the potential for bias when entering into a fire investigation. Lentini, J. J. (2015). Contextual bias in fire investigations. Brief, 44(3), 40–45.

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