Arson SA + MC Flashcards
When Speaking to Fire Incident Controller what questions do you ask?
1) Time, Date and Manner of the call
2) What Appliances attended
3) The state of the fire when the fire service arrived
4) What action the fire service has taken, particularly around entry and ventilation
5) Info about buildings security
6) What alterations they have made to the scene
7) Whether they think the fire is suspicious
8) Their opinions on the informant
9) details of suspicious vehicle and people
10 signs of deliberate fire
1) Hindering Access
2) Evidence of explosives
3) Misdirecting firefighters
4) Multiple seats of fire
5) Uneven burning
6) Unusually rapid spread or intensity of fire
7) Signs that a heater, soldering iron or other electrical appliance has been left on
8) Signs that furniture was rearranged
9) Smell of petrol or chemicals
10) Tampering with sprinkler/alarm system
Claim of Right
CLAIM OF RIGHT
In relation to any act, means a belief at the time in a proprietary or possessory right in property in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed, although that belief may be based on ignorance or mistake of fact or any matter of law other than the enactment against which the offences is alleged to have been committed
SEC 2 CA 61
Arson Offence
Life
Section 267(1)(a), Crimes Act 1961 14 years
- Intentionally OR Recklessly
- Damages by Fire OR Damages by means of explosive
- Any Property
- If he or she knows “or” out to know that danger to life is likely to ensue
Explosive
Explosive - Sec 2 AA 83
Any substance or mixture or combination of substances which in its normal state is capable either of decomposition at such rapid rates to result in an explosion or of producing a pyrotechnic effect,
Includes: Gunpowder, gelignite, detonators
Does not Include: Firearms, Fireworks
Damage by Fire
DAMAGES BY FIRE
Although fire damage will often involve burning or charring, it is not necessary that the property is actually set alight; melting, blistering of paint or significant smoke damage may be sufficient.
When must fire service report fire to Police
Fatality
Serious Injury
Suspicious
Where do you start when conducting a prelim internal investigation
From the least damage into the most damaged/seat of the fire
What must you do when a fire has been started by explosive
clear the scene in-case a secondary device is present
Who must you liase with at the scene
Fire service incident controller
When can a person be held liable for recklessness?
When they know or ought to know that life or property is in danger or damaged
R v Archer
Property may be damaged if it suffers permanent or temporary physical harm or permanent or temporary impairment of its use or value.
In R v Archer the defendant was charged with arson after setting fire to some toilet paper in the bathroom of a church, resulting in “blackening” to the top of the sink.
Arson
Property
Section 267(1)(b), Crimes Act 1961 14 years
- Intentionally OR Recklessly
- And without claim of right
- Damages by Fire OR Damages by means of explosive
- Any immovable property or any vehicle, ship or aircraft in which that person has no interest
Property
Includes real or personal property, and any estate or interest in any real or personal property, money, electricity, and any debt and anything in action, and any other right or interest
SEC 2 CA 61
Difference between gas explosion and someone setting explosives
Explosions caused by gas cover a wider area than those caused by explosives and they do not leave a crater
Someone is a tenant in a house and cooks food and burns the house down.
Liable?
Case law?
No liability
R v Wilson
Tenant means a person has an interest in the property in in the absence of aggravating features the person has a defence
Sec 28 Fire Service Act
1) Close Roads
2) Remove vehicle impeding the Fire Service
3) Remove people who are in danger of interfering with operations - Reasonable force if necessary
4) Enter private property when it is on fire or endangered or essential to perform duty
5) Do anything else that is reasonably necessary to protect life and property.
Surrounding areas of the external examination may reveal what?
1) Accelerant containers
2) Contents of outbuildings missing
3) Property run downs
4) Business appears to be struggling
Points to note in relation to Preliminary internal examination
1) Low Stock
2) Signs of hardship
3) Presence of accelerant containers or trails
4) Separate unrelated seats of fire
5) Unusual odors
6) Burn Patterns
7) Rifled Presmises
8) Owner/Occupier attitude during walk through
At conclusion of examination the fire service will be asked to determine what
1) Area of origin
2) Point of origin
3) The seat of the fire
R v MOHAN
Intent involves a decision to bring about the commission of an offence
Police duties when guarding the scene
1) Watch for possible suspects
2) Ensure scene is not interfered with
3) Exclusion and control of onlookers and property owners
4) Report all matters of significance to O/C
5) Be aware of re-ignition from hotspots
6) identify witnesses from onlookers
7) Preserve evidence
8) Prevent looting
Confrences must be held during the scene examination to assist with
1) Planning further inquiries
2) Establishing motives
3) Assessing information
4) Reconstruction
5) Identifying suspects
Actions after conference
1) Appoint exhibit officer
2) Appoint a crime scene coordinator
3) Appoint a scene examiner
4) Advise the fire investigation liaison officer
Initial action involving explosives
1) Remember there may be a secondary device
2) Do not use cell phones/radios
3) Evacuate the scene to 100m
4) If IED found obtain assistance from department of labour or defence force
5) regular sitreps
Providing explosives to commit an offence
Offence
Section 272 Crimes Act 1961
2 Years
- Knowingly
- Has in his or her possession OR Makes
- Any explosive substance OR any dangerous engine, instrument, or thing
- With intent to use OR enable another person to use the substance, dangerous engine, instrument, or thing, - To commit an offence.
Building an explosive, what must prosecution prove
1) the defendant knew what the substance was
2) R v HALLAM
The defendant knowingly had the substance in his possession and knew it was an explosive substance
People to interview on arrival at arson
1) Informant
2) Specialist Fire Investigator
3) O/C of first appliance
4) Incident Controller
Scene Guard for explosive - what steps to take
1) Remember there may be a secondary device
2) Do not use cell phones/radios
3) Evacuate the scene to 100m
What is involved in a Scene Examination of a fire involving explosives
1) Video and photograph scene
2) Continually reconstruct
3) Request attendance of suitably experienced ESR analyst
4) Swab scene and hands, examine clothes of suspect
Recklessness
Recklessness is the conscious and deliberate taking of an unjustified risk. In New Zealand it involves proof that the consequences complained of could well happen, together with an intention to continue the course of conduct regardless or risk
R v HARNEY
In R v Harney the defendant was convicted of murder after stabbing the victim in the stomach during an altercation. He argued unsuccessfully that he had been aiming for the victim’s leg knowing he could have seriously injured the man, but denied wanting to kill him.
Purpose of a conference after a suspicious fire
forms the basis of your scene examination and risk assessment planning
List persons involved in a conference
1) Crime Scene Coordinator
2) O/C CIB
3) Police photographer
4) Investigating officers
5) Specialist fire investigators
6) Fire Investigator Liaison Officer
7) O/C Investigation
8) SOCO
9) Other specialist as required
Preserve a fire scene
Investigator should liaise with incident controller to limit operations/personal in scene
Considerations to identify best method of protection
1) Assessment of each hazard
2) A strategy to prevent an occurrence or limit its impact
Things fire safety officer notes on detailed scene exam
1) Damage to roof
2) Damage to wall studs
3) Damage to window
4) Removal of fire debris
5) Elimination of false low burns
6) Smoke depositis
7) Burn patterns
8) Spalling (cracking and chipping of concrete as it heats then cools)
9) Soot deposits on windows
10) skirting board damage
11) Floor areas burned through
12) Under floor
To determine the seat of the fire the investigator will consider
1) Colour of flames and smoke
2) reports and opinions of other specialists
3) When they first noticed the fire
4) Presence of starting fires
5) State of fire at that time
6) Severity of the damage
7) Direction of spread
8) Depth of charring
9) Wind direction and speed
10) Witness reports
Questions to ask property owner
1) When the premises was last secured and by whom
2) Whether s/he knows the cause of the fire
3) Actions leading up to fire
4) details of any suspects
5) Insurance details
6) Type of business
Exhibit control samples
1) Charred timber and ash from the seat of the fire for comparison with other areas
2) Accelerants found at scene
3) Soil from surrounding area
Insurance company enquiries
1) obtain services of an assessor
2) Particulars of the insurance
3) Copies of policy
4) Prior claims
5) details of any increase in cover
6) Details of any over insurance
Clean path method
Common approach path - all traffic through the scene should be limited to corridors
Reduces the possibility of introducing evidence to the scene or evidenced being damaged
Benefit
Any benefit, pecuniary advantage, privilege, property, service or valuable consideration. Sec 267(4) CA 61
Two intents for section 267(1)(c)
With intent to obtain any benefit OR Cause loss to any other person
How to determine seat of the fire
1) Witness report
2) When witness first noticed the fire
3) state of the fire when first noticed
4) wind direction and speed
5) Direction of spread
6) reports and opinions of other specialists
External examination takes into account
1) adjoining premises
2) Nearby alleyways
3) Yard and out buildings
4) Periphery of the structure
5) What distance debris were scattered
How can suspects be identified
1) Circumstances of fire
2) Fingerprints
3) witness info
4) Media Response
5) Police intelligence
6) Prison Enquiries, psychiatric hospitals
7) info from fire crews
Obtain from suspects
1) Full particulars
2) Criminal history
3) Motor vehicle details
4) Details of Associates
5) Photograph
three things to do at scene of explosion if an expert needs to enter before the scene has been fully examined
1) Create path to centre of explosion by laying clean plastic or stepping plates
2) Have ESR swab immediately
3) Vertical sheets or iron are good sources of residue, e.g street signs, fences
R v Harpur
“[The Court may] have regard to the conduct viewed cumulatively up to the point when the conduct in question stops …the defendant’s conduct [may] be considered in its entirety. Considering how much remains to be done … is always relevant, though not determinative.”
In the previously cited R v Harpur, the defendant was involved in a series of text messages with a woman in which he described, in explicit detail, sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the woman’s 4-year-old niece. He arranged for the girl to be brought to him for that purpose
R v MORLEY
Loss … is assessed by the extent to which the complainant’s position prior to the [offence] has been diminished or impaired.
In R v Morley, a deception case, the Court of Appeal reviewed the nature of loss and held that criminality could only arise from direct loss;
Fire defenition
Fire is the result of the process of combustion, a chemical reaction between fuel and oxygen, triggered by heat.
Incendiary and explosive devices
Molotov cocktails
Pipe Bomb
Letter Bomb
Natural causes of fire
1) Carelessness - matches, welding, clothes near heater, paint stripping
2) Faults - electrical, heating
3) Nature - sun, chemical reactions
The Fire Service Specialist Fire Investigator will liaise with the designated Police Fire Investigation Liaison Officer or other member of Police in relation to four specific matters
− handover of the fire scene
− access to the fire scene
− process for examination and investigation
− identification and collection of evidence at the fire scene
