Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer — Lesson 21 Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 4 th Edition Chapter 21 — Postincident Activities

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–1 Learning Objectives 1.Select facts about scene security. 2.Define chain of custody. 3.Distinguish between an interview and an interrogation. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–2 4.Place in order the steps of an interview. 5.Identify characteristics of an incident report. 6.Identify the common causes of fires. Learning Objectives (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–3 Learning Objectives (Continued) 7.Select correct responses about fire growth and development. 8.Select facts about determining the point of origin for various types of fires. 9.Apply the evaluation process to the fire cause and determination task.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–4 Learning Objectives 10.Identify the most common sources of contamination at fire scenes. 11.Select facts about the elements of a postincident analysis and critique. 12.Conduct a postincident analysis.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–5 Scene Security Secure perimeter –Must be established –Can be same as used to define hot zone –May be established by rope or barrier tape –May be larger than usual in nonfire emergencies (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–6 Scene Security Fire and emergency services personnel should –Secure scene/preserve evidence –Not move or handle evidence unless absolutely necessary –If moving is necessary, write description of evidence and draw/sketch/photograph site (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–7 Scene Security When law enforcement officials or fire investigators are not immediately available, property must remain under control of fire and emergency services organization until all evidence has been collected.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–8 Chain of Custody Handling and integrity of real evidence Denotes documentation of custody Must authenticate location of evidence and who had access Evidence must be marked/tagged/photographed (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–9 Chain of Custody Fire department has authority to remain at a scene for a reasonable amount of time to investigate a fire After a fire incident –No one should be allowed to enter premises unless accompanied –Written log of any entry should be kept

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–10 Interview Gather information related to incident Process should be started as soon as possible during termination phase Should include wide range of people Questioning of an individual for the purpose of obtaining information related to an investigation (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–11 Interview Nonaccusatory in nature Responsibility of the company officer

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–12 Interrogation Formal line of questioning of an individual who is a suspect Accusatory in nature Responsibility of fire investigators/law enforcement personnel, not company officer

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–13 Steps of an Interview Step 1: Introduce yourself to witness and provide proper identification. Step 2: Set tone of interview. Step 3: Positively identify person being interviewed. Step 4: Outline objectives of interview. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–14 Steps of an Interview Step 5: Be positive, professional, objective. Step 6: Actively listen while making eye contact. Step 7: Avoid talking too much. Step 8: Be alert to nonverbal indicators. Step 9: Inform interviewee that information will only be used as part of investigation.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–15 Incident Report Will become part of statistical data Can be used to help organization determine prevention, life-safety programs, etc. Must have completeness, clarity, objectivity, factuality Report form souces

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–16 Fire Cause Circumstances, conditions, or agencies that bring together a fuel, ignition source, and oxidizer resulting in a fire or combustion explosion (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–17 Fire Cause

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–18 Five Stages of Fire Development

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–19 Factors Affecting Fire Growth and Development Size, number, arrangement of ventilation openings Volume of compartment Thermal properties of compartment Ceiling height of compartment Size, composition, location of first-ignited fuel Availability/locations of additional fuel

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–20 Indicators of Point of Origin Structure fires –Charring –Burn pattern –Swollen lightbulbs –Floor damage (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–21 Indicators of Point of Origin Wildland fires –Spread away from point of origin due to slope, aspect, and fuel moisture –Spread faster uphill than downhill –Spread faster with wind than against –Spread faster in fine fuels –Point of origin usually nearer heel than head (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–22 Vehicle fires — Similar to structure fires –If moving, following should be considered –Where mechanical fires typically start –Where electrical fires usually start –Smoking materials may start fires in upholstery –Fire in parked vehicle may have started while moving Indicators of Point of Origin

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–23 Contamination Major concern of fire investigators when collecting physical evidence Can occur from many sources Keys to minimizing: –Good scene security –Maintenance of chain of custody –Careful monitoring

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–24 Postincident Analysis Not intended to blame/punish personnel Intended to improve effectiveness/efficiency of responders and increase scene safety Two primary areas: –Strategy and tactics –Safety

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–25 Postincident Critique Meeting that generally involves all participating units/agencies Goal to acknowledge weaknesses/strengths Highlights safety issues Final document should be distributed to interested parties in organization

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 21–26 Summary It is the company officer’s responsibility to do everything possible to determine exact cause of fire. The same process of gathering information applies to all emergency incidents. Both the analysis and critique are used to improve the way responders operate.