cHAPTBR 3

3.1 - :nRB INVESTIGATION

This chapter will point out the main features of
th
fire investigation . Fire investigation is by na~re ~
basis for fire prevention program. Only an m-dep t 0
analysis of what sequences of events enable a ~ire
start, enabled it to spread, and how and ~here it was
controlled (e.g., firefighting, structural design, lack of
fuel) can help prevent future fires. Additionally, fire
investigation includes the observations of everyone
involved, and at the fires themselves there are many
firefighters who will able to shed light on the nature of
the fire, its progress, and so forth.
One of the most difficult problems to solve is to
determine the cause of the fire, since the flames
generally consume any evidence of what occurred. This
is the reason that the cause of most fires cannot be
determined without a long and careful investigation .

Firefighters often make snap judgments at the

scene as to the cause of a fire, without an adequate
evidence or sufficient inyestigation on which to base
their decision. App~ently, there is hesitation on the
part of the firefighters -to admit that they do not really
know the real cause of the fire, since few fires
(approximately 4% of those reported) are listed as "cause
known." Instead, the fire is attributed to various causes
without apparent regard to actual evidence or to lack of
it.

Some of the favorite causes listed by frrefighters,

when they are not certain of ~e actual cause, are faulty
wiring, children playing • with matches, spontaneou s
combustion, sparks from stove, burning rubbish, and
careless disposal of smoldng materials.

The very general and indefinite nature of theae

causes indicates that, in most cases, they are based on
assumptions, rather than on evidence.
 In this relation, the materi~ or _book _wil~ assist
. performing or conducting investigation to.
~um• the'causes and ongtn
Jdeternune °
• • f a fiire.

No matter how small, fire must be investigated.

.
Fire vestigations provide authorities with information
ti. d .
m·

ded to guide fire preven on e ucational programs

nee fire inspectors 1n
help • • new or'
• spatti·ng and e1·urunating
previously overlooked hazards, an? develop meaningful
information for training fire protection personnel.

As far as fire investigation is_ concerned, they

·must be defined .as:

• Cause - that which made the fire start; and

• Reason - that which led to the cause of a fire (a
motive leading to th~ action).

Both cause •·and reason must be established to

satisfactorily complete a fire investigation. The "cause"
explains the existence Of fire, or the WHAT of
investigation; while the "reason" establishes the WHY of
• the fire and investigation. Both are required to correctly
classify the fire, and also to provide guidance in
establishing corrective action to preclude a recurrence of
the incident.

. The importance of the establishment of a fire

cause is the knowledge of the physical aspects of fire.
 on a or Fl.re:
Jbl:ee G en er al C la -. lf t~ ti
fir e • .
1. In no ce nt tu r.al an d ac cr de nt al ca us es
2. In ce nd ia ry fii-..-e e. g. na
nk no w n. . . , - e.g. ar so n ca se s
_ U n ca us es .
3 fir e - e. g. fire of un kn ow
na tb le to E xa m in e an d In sp ec t th e
pe rs on /• eR es po •
Fi re Sc en
(American Se tti ng s)

Fire----Marshall
Fi re C hi ef
ca l Se rv ic e
A ss is ta nt C hi ef fo r Te ch ni
In sp ec to r re sp on si bl e fo r th e specific building
Fi re
fire sc en e
. Se ni or Fi re O ff ic er at th e
Ph ot og ra ph er
til iti es Pe rs on ne l (p ar tic ul ar ly electrician)
U
ur in di vi du al s pr ov id e te ch ni ca l
T he fi rs t fo Th e Se ni or Fi re O ff ic er ,
r th e in ve st ig at io n.
ex pe ri en ce fo en t to ex pl ai n w ha t w as
fi re in ci de nt is pr es
from th e re po rt on th e :m ec ha ni cs
e fi re an d to
ob se rv ed du ri ng th tin gu is hm .e nt of th e fi re .
ir e du ri ng th e ex
or w ha t tr an sp
pr ov id es co m .p le te co ve ra ge ,
Ph ot og ra ph er fi gh tin g op er at io n;
ur es du ri ng th e fi re
be gi nn in g w it h pi ct , sp ec ia l fe at ur es ,
ex te ri or , in te ri or
including es of th e in ve st ig at or s at
d th e ac tiv iti
ci rcw ns ta nc es an
work.
pe rs on ne l pr ov id e te ch ni ca l as si st an ce ,
Utilities tr ic al ci rc ui ts an d
to th e co nd it io n of el ec
pa rt ic ul ar ly as •
ap p1 ia nc es .
Pin JaYe'!.ll• ncl • mt:
~rides equip ment for use in the
Evidence kit prov& • f ·dence
. • tt· d the prese rvati on o any evi bee
mves tiga on for that evide nce has
found at the seene after . n
photo graph in its original locat ion.
·a1 4-":""'g such as: cover all, gloves, boots
• Spea c1 ou.iu&

used to prote ct unifonn;

• Flash light and elect ric lante rn;
• tape and smal l ruler for maki ng
• Measu nng
meas urem ents; • .
• Labe ls (gum med and string ed) used to identify
items ; . .
• New or steril e glass jars with rubb er airtig ht seals
used for the colle ction of samp les;
• Enve lopes , boxes, plast ic bags , ~eta l cans used
for the collection (asso rted sizes) used for
colle ction of samp les.

Basi c Step s In a Fire Scen e Exam inati on:

•Sear ch syste matic ally - make a plan , have in

mind what you will look for, the way you will look,
and .what you will do with each item found and
colle cted. Be thoro ugh, comp lete, and orderly
• Obsezve - Usenote your eyes, ears, nose , and camera
if poss ible ~o the cond ition s. Obse rve the fire
and the spec tator s.
• Take photograph - the eye. cam era records more
detai ls than the nake d Esta blish visual
reference throu gh num erou s photographs.
Photograph each area seve ral time s during the
vario us phas es of investigation. Infrared
phot ogra phy may prove extremely valuable since
• it is sens itive to differences in heat.
• Work by the Process of Elimination - establish a
chec klist and chec k off each item. Settle one item
before attem pting anot her if possible. Avoid
backtracking.
• Chec k and Verify - Do not a1eume or take for
gran ted. Don 'tjum p to cono b11lc a1.
 • Tak e Not e _ writ e dow n all the deta ils
• Dra w diag ram s - amp lify note s with diag ram s
dep ictin g loca tion s of inci den ts desc ribe d.

~• • to Con duc t Fire Inv esti gati on:

-
1. Ext erio r - Det erm ine whe re the fire ves ted firs t
by com pari ng bur n cha r, smo ke, and hea t pat tern s
arou nd win dow s, doo rs, and roof .

Look for the fallowing:

• exte rior poi nts of orig in;
• unu sua l bur n pat tern s of flam mab le liqu id;
• Too ls and flam mab le liqu id con tain ers;
• Foo tpri nts and scu ff mar ks at ~us pec ted
poi nts of entr y.

2. Inte rior - Con duc t a cur sory exa min atio n or

gen eral surv ey of the enti re stru ctu re of inte rior for
the exte nt of fire dam age . Est abl ish the clas s of fire
dur atio n (bri ef or long) and the app rox ima te bur n
time by che ckin g the fallowing:
• Win dow gla ss con diti on;
• Dep th of woo d cha r, at or in clos e pro xim ity to
the poi nt -of orig in;
• Pen etra tion of fire rest rict ive wall cov erin gs by
fire;
• Ele ctri c cloc k tha t has bee n stop ped by fire
dam age .
• Note the tim e stop ped and com par e wit h alar rn
tim e. ;fhe tim e fact ors shot1ld be esti ma ted
ancJ C<Jnsiliere<j as aprJr<Jximation only.
 -

Fir e Patt91 !n An al YS .IS

-~• nd
thfire gro u
Aft er th
an de r de e fire figh ting operation and once_ e . tio n will
co mm fire
fire out the 1~vest1ga
follow. In the fi~ lar e _the :ire scene is one of the things tha t th e
· t· t . Id of fire investigation 1 e
b. t·v
1nves.19a or 1s to t race or locate the fire pattern. One of the.
o 1ec
• d
ne exa • .10n .1s the recognition or ident1ficat1on an
of a fire scefire
analysis of m1na!
spread to id f
1
tte rn s is performed in an attempt to
tra ce the fire
d the points of origin, and to identify
fuels 0; the en b Y ~rea~ an
co m ust1ble involved.

Th e ide nti fica ti on and proper analysis of fire pa tte rns by _an
inv es tig ato r is de dynamics
of fire develo pet nd 9 nt upon an understanding of the -
pm en 8n d he at and flame spread.

Definition of Terms

are ter mi no log ist us ed

In the are a of fire investigation there
as to:
the recognition or the
Dynamics of Pattern Production- by the ars on
the fire patterns
ide nti fic ati on an d the pro pe r an aly sis
es tig ato r is de pe nd en t up on the understanding of the dy na mi cs
inv
lop me nt an d he at an d fla me spread ( Be ha vio r of fire ).
of fire de ve

tte rn - are the ph ysi ca l eff ec ts tha t are visible or me as ura ble
Fire Pa
ing aft er a fire . Th is inc lud es the rm al effects on materials,
remain
umption of combustible,
such as charring ( Burned), oxidation, cons
lting, Electrical beads,
smoke, and soot deposits; distortion, me
the co lor ch an ge s an d the ch an ge s in character of materials,
and
lla ps e, an d oth er eff ects. ( Fir e inv es tigators manuals )
structural co

es or ar ea s of De ma rca tion- are the borders defining the

Lin
ts of the fire upon
difference in certain heat and smoke effec
ials. Th e pro du ctio ns of lies of de marcation and the
various ma ter
bs eq ue nt fire pa tte rns tha t the y de fin e are the dependent upon
su
 as the mat eria ls itself, the rate of
a combination of variables such ssion activities, temperature
hea t release of the fire, the fire suppre
of the hea t sou rce.
. . • I5 ma y sho w the same
Like for instance a particular matena
hea t exp osu re patterns from exposure to a low tem per atu re heat
sou rce for a long period of time.

Types of Fire Patterns

,;-

• .. """' .,.-.,., " ,,. ·\:.~-,:·

,. •=-~~•~A~;••,:
· ~
.,

:-..

Internet Photo

There are two primary types of fire patterns and

this are: fire
patterns movements and the intensity patterns.
This type of fire
patterns are define largely by the fire dynamics. Oft
en a systematic
use of more than one type of fire pattern at a fire
scene can be used
in a combination to lead back to the heat source tha
t produced.
Movement Patterns- one of the things that the fire ars
on investigator
to establish is the location of the burned pattern or
also called as
the fingerprint of fire by doing this they may closely
observe the
movement of the flame and the heat that may produc
ed a volume
of soot to the surface. The movement patterns are
commonly a
 ult of the growth and idethe P of fire source. If this things are
h or nt·firogress
re5c.,rately establis d fire arson
acve"'stigator, thi.s pattern can 1b an or analyzed by the
1ed
. the
~eat source produced them.
e Possibly traced back on where

Internet Photo

Intensity Patterns - the int

~espo~~e of a m at er ia ls inv olv e
ensit
in a ~ir
att
:;~itc:
•
~ in :~ ic ~ a~
th
of. e

s of _h ea t ex po su re . Th e va rious effects of the ~e~:r~~u!

inten~It1e
at er ia ls ca n _p ro? uc e lin es of demarcation ( separation)
ce~a,~ m on investigator to
ca t,o ~ ,t_ ma y he lp the fire ars
, thrs h~e of demar tities of fuel materials as
ch ar ac ten st1 cs an d qu an
determine the
.
well the direction of fire spread
ce Ef fe ct of Ch ar - it is a co mmon a language that in every fire
~u~a ob se rve and this trace
e is alw ay s tra ce wi ll be
rnc1dence that ther es tigator to establish the
us ef ul to th e fire ar so n inv
or marks will be
or igi n on wh er e the fire sta rted and this point of
possible point of observation of char or
es ta bli sh thr ou gh a clo se
origin of can be e most of the materials
. Si nc e in ev er y fire inc ide nc
depth of burned e wo ods, binder , paints will
d in th e he at of a fire . Th
are decompose
or ch ar re d or it ma y tur n int o a dark color of the
turned into ashes

Painted surface.
 Internet Photo

Wood Char

Internet Photo

Wood char is common in every fire incidence specifically if

the woods are not totally burned. Charred wood is likely to be found
in nearly all structural fires particularly if the structure is made of
light materials like a class "A" structure; when expose to elevated
temperature, wood undergoes chemical decomposition that drives
off gases, water vapor, and various pyrolysis, since most of the
chemical substance of woods are made of cellulose.