Arson (Investigation) Flashcards
Role of Fire Investigation Officer (FILO)
- Co-ordinate fire investigation training for any Police employees within area or district
- Assist area and district with fire investigation related enquiries
- Attend every fire that results in serious injury or death
- Providing other advice and expertise as required
- Arrange Police attendance at fire scenes where required
What to ask an incident controller at the scene?
- The time and date the call was made and the manner it was received
- What appliances attended
- What state the fire was in when fire service arrived?
- What actions were taken? Particularly in the entry of the building and ventilating it after the fire
- Whether they thought the fire was suspicious and if so why?
Evidence of Wilful causes of fire?
- Evidence of explosive
- Evidence of accelerants (i.e. Containers)
- Multiple seats of fire
- Uneven burning
- Misdirecting fire service
Common Methods of setting fires
- Candles
- Chemical reaction
- Molotov cocktail
- Matches and cigarettes
- Electrical matches
Examples where carelessness may cause fire
- Misusing electricity
- Burning rubbish
- Ironing
- Smoking
- Setting fireworks
Faults examples
- Appliances
- Broken power lines
- Gas pipes and fittings
- Dust extractors
- Fans and ventilation systems
Natural Causes
- Lightning
- Static electricity
- Sun rays
- Chemical reactions
- Rodents eating wires
Conferences assist with
- Identify suspects
- Reconstructing of the scene
- Assessing the information obtained
- Planning further enquiries
- Establish possible motives
What the FILO and SFI discuss?
- Handover of the scene
- Access to the fire scene
- Process for examination and investigation
- Identify and collect evidence at the fire scene
Powers under the Fire Service Act 1975
- Enter private property when it is on fire or if entry is necessary to perform one’s duty
- Close roads
- Remove vehicles impeding, allows entry by breaking into vehicles to effect one’s purpose
- Remove people in danger or interfering with operations, use reasonable force necessary to effect one’s purpose
- Do all things necessary to protect life and property
How to link a suspect to an arson?
- Burned facial skin
- Smell of smoke
- Residue of fuel
- Products of combustion on skin
(Fires not Explosives) You identify suspects by means of
- Circumstances of the fire
- Fingerprints
- Media response
- Info from witnesses and informants
- Info from fire crews on people who regularly attend fires
Possible suspects may include
- Owner/Occupier for insurance fraud
- An employee to cover theft, forgery or false pretences
- A criminal to cover their traces of crime such as burglary or homicide
- An angry person suffering from jealously, hatred, desire to revenge
Investigate suspects thoroughly and according to priority. Obtain their:
- Full particulars
- Criminal history
- Vehicles they may have accessed
- Details of associates
- Photographs
Complete enquiries to establish the suspects
- Motive
- Mens rea
- Opportunity
- Connection with the scene and crime
- Character, mental background, history, movements and behaviour
Differences between a gas explosion and an explosion set?
- Explosions by gas cover a wider area
- Implosions of cabinet
- Medical evidence – suspect or victims may have inhaled gas
Specialist Fire Investigators (SFI) attend and investigate
- Fire where fatalities occur
- Fire where serious life-threatening injuries occur
- Fire in buildings where built in fire safety features have failed or not performed to an expected standard
- Structure fires where cause is suspicious or not determined
- Significant fire spread across property boundary
Fire scenes are an unstable environment – Injuries caused by
- Inhalation of toxic substances
- Ingestion of particles
- Injection from sharp objects
- Airborne dusts, particles
- Tripping on fire debris