Searching the Fire Scene

Slides:

Advertisements

Similar presentations

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

Advertisements

Forensic Aspects of Fire Investigation

Forensic Aspects of Fire Investigation

Forensic Aspects of Fire Investigation

Lecture Arson Analysis of Fire Debris Arson is defined as purposely setting fire to a house, building or other property.

Accident or Arson?. Accidental fires can be caused by… Children Children Pets Pets Faulty electrical, heating, or gas equipment Faulty electrical, heating,

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

Name at least two possible sources of ignition:. Match Electrical Sparks Chemical.

Forensic Science - Arson and Explosives

13-1 ©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2 nd ed. By Richard Saferstein FORENSIC ASPECTS.

Dan Gearhart, Division Chief / Investigator The Arson Investigation Process.

Arson and Fire Investigation

Fire Scene Preservation

Forensic Science.  Read about the fire at the Happy Land Social Club  What were the materials that created the fire?  Why was this fire so deadly?

1 Book Cover Here Chapter 21 ARSON AND EXPLOSIVES Criminal Investigation: A Method for Reconstructing the Past, 7 th Edition Copyright © 2014, Elsevier.

Forensic Arson and Explosive Investigations. Two Main Areas of Interest: isolation and analysis of flammable residues collection and analysis of explosive.

Chapter 4 Arson and Fire Investigation

11- PRENTICE HALL ©2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ CRIMINALISTICS An Introduction to Forensic Science, 9/E By Richard Saferstein.

12-1 PRENTICE HALL ©2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ FORENSIC SCIENCE An Introduction By Richard Saferstein FORENSIC ASPECTS OF.

Criminalistics, 10e Richard Saferstein © 2011, 2007, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights.

The Burning Question: Is it Arson?. How can we make fire? Heat + Fuel + Oxygen.

Fire Debris Analysis Forensic Crime Science Eisenhower High School.

Chapter 11.2 Notes. Searching the Fire Scene Must determine the accelerant before evaporation Does not require a search warrant May allow for seizure.

Name at least two possible sources of ignition:. Match Electrical Sparks Chemical.

CHAPTER 4 ARSON AND FIRE INVESTIGATION. INTRODUCTION—OBJECTIVES 1. Define combustion reactions 2. Discuss the four factors that are required to ignite.

Chapter 11. Arson and Explosives Section 1: Fire and Arson The Combustion Reaction – Flaming and Glowing Combustions Investigating Suspicious Fires –

Evidence Collection.  ASAP – no search warrant needed initially b/c evidence can be lost quickly  Collect 3-4 L of ash and debris, plus anything with.

Combustion Combustion reactions — oxidation reactions that involve oxygen and produce flames Heat of combustion — excess heat energy Exothermic reactions.

SFS4. Students will evaluate the role of ballistics, tool marks and evidence of arson in forensic investigation. D. Evaluate possible indicators of arson.

13-1 ©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2 nd ed. By Richard Saferstein FORENSIC ASPECTS.

ARSON DETECTION.  Arson = crime of intentionally starting a fire that damages property  Difficult to prove – - fire or firefighters destroy evidence.

Low Burning and Holes In The Floor. What is the Myth?  Burn marks on a floor indicate that a fire was set on purpose because…  heat rises  fires only.

Arson and Fire investigation. Investigation Fire investigation involves the examination of all fire-related incidents once firefighters have extinguished.

Do-now o Have “Happy Land Fire” out o In your notes, answer the following: What do you need to start a fire? What precautions are taken in most buildings.

Forensic Science II Forensic Fire Analysis. Fire Investigation Terms Fire - Produced when a substance undergoes rapid oxidation involving heat and light.

Forensic Fire investigation. Arson? When investigating a fire one of the questions asked is, “Was this arson?” This question is difficult to answer based.

Arson and Combustion Forensic science begins at the crime scene.

Collecting and analyzing evidence

ArsonAnalysis of Fire Arson is defined as purposely setting fire to a house, building or other property. Arson is the second leading cause of death by.

Chapter 4 Arson and Fire Investigation

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

Aspects of Fire Investigation

Chapter 11.2 Notes.

Arson Detection.

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

Searching, Preserving and Collecting Evidence from an Arson Scene

Fire as Evidence.

Fire Patterns associated with Ignitable Liquid Accelerants

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF ARSON AND EXPLOSION INVESTIGATIONS

8th Grade Forensic Science

Fire Investigation.

Fire and Explosions.

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

Forensic Fire investigation

Fire Scene Preservation

Thursday February 8, 2018 (Discussion – Fire Basics; Textbook Assignment – Collection and Preservation of Arson Evidence)

Fire Basics Image: T. Trimpe/B.Brooks

Chapter 14 FORENSIC ASPECTS OF FIRE INVESTIGATION

The Arson Investigation Process

Portable Fire Extinguisher Overview

Forensic Fire investigation

13-5 Analysis of Flammable Residues

(Discussion and Textbook Assignment - Searching the Fire Scene)

FORENSIC ASPECTS of Arson and Explosives

Arson Dr. Walker.

Warm Up Objective: Scientists will describe forensic explosives and arson by taking notes and analyzing the activity. What is the topic? What will you.

Presentation transcript:

Searching the Fire Scene

The Fire Scene The arson investigator needs to begin examining a fire scene for signs of arson as soon as the fire has been extinguished. Experience shows that most arsons are started with petroleum-based accelerants. The necessity to begin an immediate investigation even takes precedence over the requirement to obtain a search warrant.

Investigation of Fire Scenes Fires are investigated to determine the cause of the fire and its origin 1. Burn Patterns: Since heat travels upward, pyrolysis occurs in materials above the area of combustion, producing a burn pattern that looks like an “inverted cone” or “V” pattern The inverted cone is a strong indicator that the point of origin of the fire lies at the point of the cone or base of the V Locating the point or points of origin is critical to the initial investigation of possible causes of the fire

Investigation of Fire Scenes 2. Search for Causes: An important objective of the scene investigation is to determine the cause of the fire Determining the cause of a fire is basically a reconstruction Accidental causes include electrical short circuit, cooking accidents, and careless smoking

The Fire Scene Some telltale signs of arson include evidence of separate and unconnected fires, the use of “streamers” to spread the fire from one area to another, and evidence of severe burning found on the floor as opposed to the ceiling of a structure, due to a flammable liquid. Normally, a fire has a tendency to move in an upward direction, and thus the probable origin will most likely be the lowest point showing the most intense characteristics of burning.

The Fire Scene Fortunately, combustible liquids are rarely entirely consumed during a fire.

Collection At the suspect point of origin of a fire, ash and soot, along with porous materials which may contain excess accelerant, should be collected and stored in airtight containers, leaving an airspace to remove samples.

Collection Traces of flammable liquid residues may be located with a vapor detector (sniffer). It is important that a sampling of similar but uncontaminated control specimens be collected. A search for ignitors such as matches, an electrical sparking device, or parts of a “Molotov cocktail” must also be conducted.