Fire Investigation

Fire
Investigation
The Key to Fire Safety
Russel van Deventer
Who does Fire Investigations?
• Police (forensics) –
Determine if crime is
involved
• Insurance/Private Fire
Investigators – Determine
liability
Fire Department Fire Investigation
• Traditionally part of Fire Prevention/Fire Safety Section

• Various levels of training – No National Standard
• Formal/Informal
• “On-the-job”
• Belief systems of seniors passed down - BS
Formal Training
• NFPA 1033 - Standard For
Professional Qualifications For
Fire Investigator
• NFPA 921 - Guide for Fire and
Explosion Investigations
Primary Reason for FI?
STOP IT HAPPENING
AGAIN!
What does a Fire Investigator do?
• Identify area of origin
• Competent ignition
source
• First material ignited
• How brought together
What does a Fire Investigator do?
• Classification
• Accidental
• Natural
• Incendiary
• Undetermined
• Development – how/why
• VERY NB
We base fire safety on what we know
• But fires still occur
• Followed by investigations
• Findings
• Recommendations
• Consultations
• Apply
• Repeat
Lessons from fires
• Assess
• Performance of building
• Fire safety systems
• Behavior of occupants
• Firefighting techniques
Fire Safety Risk Assessment
• Investigation BEFORE
fire occurs
• Should complement
FI
• Where did risk
assessment fail?
FI IS AT THE
FOREFRONT OF FIRE
SAFETY
UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT CAUSES
THEM, WE CANNOT PREVENT THEM
Scientific Approach To FI
• Every fire and explosion
incident is in some way
unique and different from
any other
• The Scientific Method,
however, should be
applied in every instance
Scientific Method
• The Scientific Method is the
cornerstone of the process of
Fire Investigation
• NFPA 921
• Process by which we conclude
the Origin and Cause of a Fire
Scientific Method
1. Recognise the Need 5. Develop Hypothesis
2. Define the Problem 6. Test Hypothesis
3. Collect Data 7. Select Final Opinion
4. Analyse Data
Hostel Fire
Investigation
A Case Study of Fire Investigation
using the Scientific Method
1. Recognise the Need
• Does a problem exist?
• A fire occurred in a unit of a
hostel on 23 January 2020
• A Fire Investigation to
determine Origin and Cause
was requested on 23 January
2020
2. Define the Problem
• Define the manner in which
the problem can be solved.
• On arrival at the scene,
campus security, hostel
manager and campus
electrician were consulted.
• Scene safety.
Define the manner in which the
problem can be solved.
• Occupants statements
were supplied by security.
• The investigation was
conducted together with
police fire investigator.
3. Collect Data
• Facts about the fire • Data collected is called
collected empirical data
• Observation • Based on observation or
• Experiment experience
• Direct data-gathering • Capable of being verified

or known to be true
• Photos and videos
Debris lying where flames were found by security and fire brigade
Only one window was open at the time the fire was discovered
Light fitting as found at start of investigation
All the unit’s lights were on at the time of the fire
Burn marks and outline of a mat on cleaned floor
Ceiling void above the fire.
Ceiling void was not divided by fire-walls.
CCTV footage assessed.
Burn patterns.
Information Acquired
• The occupants stated that the bathroom

fluorescent globe, which had been working
correctly before they left for the December
University holiday, took a long time and flickered
before lighting, on their return around 13 January.
4. Analyse the Data
• Analysis of data is based • If the investigator lacks expertise to
on: properly attribute meaning to a piece of
• Knowledge data, then assistance should be sought
• Training • Understanding the meaning of the data

will enable the investigator to form
• Experience hypotheses based on the evidence,
• Expertise rather than on speculation
Consultation
• Peer consultation confirmed that the lamp-holders could be
ignited by electrical current overheating the metal in the
lamp-holders. Possible causes include:
• The ballast maintaining an arc across poor connections.
• A failed starter.
• Faulty fluorescent globe.
5. Develop a Hypothesis
• Produce a hypothesis, or hypotheses, to • Responsibility for the fire or explosion
explain the phenomena incident
• Nature of fire patterns • Process is referred to as inductive
reasoning.
• Fire spread
• Identification of the origin
• Based solely on the empirical data that the
investigator has collected through
• The ignition sequence observation and then developed into
• Fire cause explanations for the event, which are based
upon the investigator's knowledge, training,
• Causes of damage experience, and expertise.
6. Test the Hypothesis
• Test to disprove, or refute, the hypothesis
• Conducting experiments
• Analytically by applying scientific principles
• Referring to scientific research
• If no hypothesis can withstand an examination
by deductive reasoning, the issue should be
considered Undetermined.
Experiment
Lamp holders from the kitchen/study were

ignited to test if they could create drop-down,
one from about half a meter above the floor
and the other at the full ceiling height of 3,2
meters. Both rendered the same result,
confirming drop-down would occur.
Hypothesis that is incapable of being tested either
physically or analytically, is an invalid hypothesis.
• A hypothesis developed based on the absence of

data is an example of a hypothesis that is incapable
of being tested
• The inability to refute a hypothesis does not mean
that the hypothesis is true
Other Possible Causes
7. Select Final Hypothesis
• All credible data accounted
for.
• All feasible alternate
hypotheses have been
considered and eliminated.
• Document
Questions?
Question
• The outcome of fire investigation should impact:
• Local code development and research process
• Inspection efforts
• Fire and life safety education efforts
• As fire professionals, we need to evaluate the collected data for patterns and trend
analysis.
• By identifying trends in our community's fire incidents we can identify our target
hazards as well as our target audience for our fire and life safety education programs.
Question
• Fire investigations should include:
• How the fire started, what caused it, where, etc.
• Effect of fire safety measures in place at the time of the fire.
• The influence and actions of occupants.
• How effective and efficient firefighting operations were.
• ‘Fire Investigation is at the Forefront of Community Fire Safety’
HOW DO YOU ENSURE
YOUR DEPARTMENT &
COMMUNITY BENEFIT
FROM YOUR
INVESTIGATIONS ?

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Fire

• Traditionally part of Fire Prevention/Fire Safety Section

• Direct data-gathering • Capable of being verified

• The occupants stated that the bathroom

• Training • Understanding the meaning of the data

Lamp holders from the kitchen/study were

• A hypothesis developed based on the absence of

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