Shanley et al. In the mid-1980s there began a trend in the literature that spoke out against this misconception and began to provide a list of alternative explanations of damage to the floor (DeHaan 1983; Taylor 1985; Taylor 1986; DeHaan 1987; Eaton 1987; Wood et al. Paper presented at InterFlam99. Noted differences with this level line of demarcation are damage in corners and near ventilation openings. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigations. In the early stages of a fire and through fuel-controlled conditions, the production of the incomplete combustion byproducts (HCN, CO, UHCs) is typically minor. 2012). Prominent forensic scientist, Paul Kirk (1969), wrote in support of using depth of char for fire investigation in the following, variations in depth of the char will inevitably be notedand that this feature of the fire is of primary importance. The fuel-controlled conditions had consistently higher probabilities in positively identifying each cue as compared to ventilation-controlled conditions. Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 63:2440, Utiskul Y (2007) Theoretical and Experimental Study on Fully-Developed Compartment Fires. A new method of using digital image analysis may also work in increasing the objectivity of identifying varying DOFD (Riahi et al. The gauge is capable of reading measurements to 0.0005 (0.01mm). The only process for fire pattern analysis discussed in the literature is the use of a heat and flame vector analysis (NFPA 2014; Shanley et al. The first component evaluated is the ability to assess the varying degree of fire damage along the surfaces of the compartment and contents. [2] 2013). [5], There have been other human development theories in the past such as, There are branch theories that relate to these theories and the theories have different notions on how environmental stimuli change a person, but none dismiss or disprove the U-shaped development theory. Fire Safety Journal 51:4252, Gorbett G (2015) Development and Assessment of a Decision Support Framework for Enhancing the Forensic Analysis and Interpretation of Fire Patterns. Investigators work backward from the outer lines, examining everything in the fire's path for clues to the direction in which the fire was moving. The scene investigators most important hypothesis is the correct identification of the origin of the fire (NFPA 2014). Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 15:1619, Crofton, MD, Theobald C (1968) The Critical Distance for Ignition From Some Items of Furniture. 2013). The areas of damage and boundaries of those areas are often referred to as areas and lines of demarcation. By using this website, you agree to our The wall construction had no significant impact on the damage. For more information on this term, see the interFIRE VR Resource File . The concept of fire patterns for this review has been broken into four components that better assist in evaluating their effectiveness in determining an area of origin. Combustion that fire investigators will most commonly encounter is predominantly diffusion flames. The earliest texts on fire investigation expressed the importance of using damage and fire patterns in determining the area of origin (Rethoret 1945; Straeter and Crawford 1955; Kennedy 1959; Kirk 1969). Finally, an area that is white in color surrounded by soot areas should not be classified as a clean burn area until closer examination is performed. statement and If the mud and tape were present to cover the drywall seams, then typically the damage is lesser at this area. As vertical and horizontal surfaces intersect this 3-D fire plume, truncated conical shaped patterns have been shown to form (NFPA 2014). National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), NFPA (2001) NFPA 921-Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation. This study provides an understanding of the fire risk of building's exterior wall geometry design at different altitudes. As used here, decision frameworks, tools or methods encompass any mechanism used to support the systematic identification and assessment of information deemed important to a decision, ranging from checklists to structured problem-diagnostic tools such as fault trees, event trees or decision trees, to computationally supported decision analysis tools. [1] In this graph the axes would be availability of intuition (being th Y-axis) and level of expertise (being the X-axis), instead of the skill level (being the Y-axis) and time (being the X-axis). Typically, investigators look at the face of the wallboard and make a visible determination of the DOFD. They are examples only, not models. smoke, aerosols). Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 2:8082, Crofton, MD, Heskestad G (1982) Engineering relations for fire plumes. A scale ranging from 0 to 6 was developed for assigning a DOFD, with 0 indicating no visible damage and 6 indicating complete consumption. 2006). NFPA 921 states that there are three basic causes of fire patterns: heat, deposition and consumption (NFPA 2014). The fire origin will ultimately be connected to a plume generated fire pattern. Carman (2008) noted similar areas of damage of great magnitude directly opposite door openings and within the inflow of the air from this door. Shanley et al. Identifying the cause of the damage is complicated by the fact that the investigator has to use evidence after the event, such as the location and magnitude of damage, compartment geometry, ventilation openings and the position and number of fuels as a means to identify the range of initial conditions that may have influenced how the fire developed. These gases are buoyant compared to the surrounding air at the opening interface, which causes them to flow through the opening, unless there is wind or some other external force (mechanical ventilation) allowing the pressure outside of the compartment to be higher. The fuels used for their experiments included a natural gas burner, gasoline pool fire and polyurethane foam. Therefore, it is expected that soot deposition on wall surfaces to be greatest in thickness and higher in elevation closer to the room of origin and lesser in thickness and lower in elevation as one moves away from the room of origin. In summary, the characteristics distilled from the literature is that plume-generated patterns have areas of greater magnitude of damage in relationship to the surrounding areas and because of this the lines of demarcation between these areas are described as clear or sharp. The current damage indicator as espoused by NFPA 921 is that sides that slope downward from above toward the hole are indicators that the fire was from above. 1997). The compartments were 12ft by 12ft with 8ft ceiling heights (3.6m3.6m2.4m) with a single door opening 3ft by 6ft-10in. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigations. The origin of both fires was located under the window in the sofa, but different accelerants were used to start each test fire with 2-gallons of gasoline in test 1 and scattered newspaper in test 2. In essence this shows that fire investigators were trained to identify the greatest area of damage and that this would be the area of origin. Alternative explanations are now commonly given when discussing penetrations through floors, including: radiant heat, furniture items, melting plastics and pre-existing openings in the floor during fully involved compartment fire (NFPA 2014) (Fig. 2010). 20). The study divided the use of fire patterns into fire effects and fire dynamics attributes and called for some form of weighting of fire dynamics attributes in the overall decision process. Fire Clues: Heat Shadows - Occur when heavy furniture shields part of a wall; can help determine the origin point. However, if the mud and tape are not present and the compartment transitioned to a ventilation-controlled fire, the damage around these sources of ventilation may be significant (Claflin 2014; Mealy et al. As with anything, there are additional caveats in the identification of plume-generated fire patterns. This type of damage was first identified as being helpful at determining the area of origin by Straeter and Crawford (1955). He then indicates that the contextual circumstances should also be evaluated, which include a relationship to other artifacts and associated casual factors (proximity to a fuel item), post-flashover conditions and proximity of damage to a ventilation opening. The definition of fire effects became observable or measurable changes in or on a material as the result of a fire (NFPA 2008). This is of particular concern with respect to the importance of being able to identify and properly weigh potentially subtle differences from one fire scene to the next, some of which could have significant bearing on the development of the fire and the interpretation of the evidence. There was no significant damage identified around the window ventilation, as the researchers discussed that this vent served primarily as an outflow for the heated gases, while the doorway served as the inflow due to the location of the neutral plane. Additional comparison and control samples were generated using ignitable liquid pours that achieved post-flashover conditions without use of the burner, but with the burner in place to maintain test consistency. (0.91m2.1m). Instrumentation included thermocouples in the gas layer and under the flooring material. Fire research station, Fire Research Note No. The loss of mass from a material is typically dependent on the material and the exposure to heating. Section 2, Ch. In the face of non-systematized approaches to solving complex problems, the current state of fire investigation, many other professions have turned to decision support frameworks, tools or methods. Suppression factors may also impact the visible and measurable damage that investigators use. The literature review of fire pattern usage in the fire investigation profession illustrates several gaps with the overall process of using damage to determine an area of origin. National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST Technical Note 7213, Maryland (USA), King C (1985) Ethics and Arson Investigation. Paper presented at the Fire and Materials Conference. 2008). The fire is generally regarded as well-ventilated when values of <0.30.5. Holes in floors have had many misconceptions tied directly to floor patterns, as discussed previously. Madrzykowski and Fleischmann (2012) completed work on flame plume damage against a gypsum wallboard lined wall and showed that for smaller HRR fuels (2080kW) the maximum width of damage was never greater than 1.5 times the width of the fuel. Most of the studies conducted on calcination are limited in their examination of gypsum wallboard variations. ATF, Ammendale, MD, Pattern (2015) Merriam Webster Dictionary. The first identified process was published in 1955 (Straeter and Crawford 1955). The changes to the wall surfaces by the owner through repairs and other possible information that may change the overall damage within the compartment need to be addressed. 2006; Hicks et al. Department of Justice, USA, Riahi S, Beyler C (2011) Measurement and Prediction of Smoke Deposition from a Fire Against a Wall. Mann and Putaansuu (2010) exposed samples of gypsum wallboard to three levels of heat flux for three different durations and noted visible changes, as well as depth of calcination changes with a variety of probing instruments. Rethoret (1945) describes that the fire investigator should study closely the depth of carbonization at various places, as this will bring the investigator in getting back to the point of origin.