Chapter 15 Fire Officer II Flashcards
The company officer must request a certified fire investigator during a fire investigation if:
There was a loss of life
After evaluating scene safety, locating the area/point of origin, and protecting evidence, the company officer may be required to:
Determine the specific cause of the fire
Which of the following is known as the area where the ignition source and material first ignited actually come together?
Area of origin
Identifying _____ may help identify parties responsible for incendiary fire.
Motive
Which of the following can BEST help determine where a fire originated and how it spread?
Recognizing and interpreting fire patterns
Once the examination of a fire is complete, the investigation involves the examination, organization, and analysis of data with the ultimate objective of:
Determining fire origin and cause
Fires that do not involve a deliberate human act to ignite or spread the fire into an area where it should not be is classified as:
Accidental
On flat ground with a consistent fuel bed and no wind, a wildland fire would burn:
Equally in all directions
During a vehicle fire scene investigation, a company officer should:
Examine both the exterior and interior of the vehicle
Identifying the _____ is a key component in making a fire cause determination.
Material first ignited
When determining cause of a fire, a company officer should know that a competent ignition source MUST have:
Sufficient temperature to ignite the first material
Which of the following fire cause classifications is used when the specific cause has not been determined to a reasonable degree of probability?
Undetermined
Process used to record the history of a piece of evidence; all documents should include the name or initials of the person collecting evidence, each person who has custody of it, …
Chain of custody
An initial energy source that can produce enough heat and energy, over a long enough period of time to raise the temperature of a fuel to its ignition temperature
Competent ignition source
The direction - north, south, east, west - in which the face slopes
Aspect
Mechanism or initial energy source employed to initiate combustion, such as a spark that provides a means for the initiation of self-sustained combustion
Ignition source
Fuel that is first set on fire by the heat of ignition. To be meaningful, both a type of material and a form of material should be identified
Material first ignited
Psychological disorder in which the sufferer has an uncontrollable impulse to set fires, either to relieve tension or produce a feeling of euphoria
Pyromania
Which of the following should be documented when examining the cargo compartment of a vehicle?
Damage to the spare tire
During vehicle fire investigations, company officers should keep in mind that today’s passenger vehicles _____ when compared to older model vehicles
May have additional fuel loads
Which of the following is MOST likely to affect the type of interior fire pattern formed?
They physical characteristics of the surface
In fire cause determination, heat from electrical equipment is an example of a potential source of:
Ignition
In an ideal situation, a vehicle that is part of a vehicle fire investigation should be examined:
Where the fire occurred
Which of the following BEST describes what company officers should use in a systemic examination of a vehicle fire incident?
Comparative analysis of damage in each area of the vehicle
Which of the following is one of the three characteristics that the material first ignited must have?
Close enough to the ignition source to receive energy transfer
What three characteristics does the material first ignited have?
Close enough to the ignition source to receive energy transfer, Capable of being ignited by the ignition source, Capable of absorbing and retaining sufficient heat energy transferred from ignition source to begin combustion
Which of the following pieces of information is MOST likely to be provided by a proper analysis of a vehicles fire pattern?
The fires movement
The type of interior fire pattern MOST likely to vary widely in appearance is:
Ventilation generated
Which of the following is the classification of fire cause that includes fires caused by lightning, storms, and floods where human intervention has not been involved in the ignition process?
Natural
Which of the following is required finding for the area of origin during a fire investigation?
Knowledge of fire behavior
NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations describes fire patterns as:
Visible or measurable physical effects that remain after the fire
Firesetters looking to achieve a feeling of empowerment over society are associated with motives of:
Excitement
The goal of analyzing interior fire patterns is BEST described as:
Determining fire spread from the area of origin
Once the examination of a fire is complete, the investigation involves the examination, organization, and analysis of data with the ultimate objective of:
Determining the fire origin and cause
In fire cause determination, a company officer should call an agency authorized fire investigator if:
The specific cause cannot be determined
A possible sign that someone may be an arsonist who is seeking recognition or wishes to be viewed as a hero is that this person:
Is present at multiple fire scenes
If there is an indication that a fire incident was intentional or malicious, the company officer must requests:
A certified fire investigator
Which of the following BEST describes what embezzlement fires are set to erase or destroy?
A paper trail
In fire pattern analysis, which of the following is the hypothesis that needs to be tested?
The area of origin
In order to ensure safety during an exterior vehicle examination, the vehicle should be _____ prior to reaching underneath
Stabilized
According to NFPA 1021, what must a Company Officer II know when a fire investigation is focused on determining if arson has occurred?
Methods that adult and juvenile firesetters use
In fire pattern analysis, fire effects and patterns represent _____ pieces of evidence.
Individual
When beginning to investigate a structure fire, company officers should start with an examination of:
The entire scene
Which of the following types of people set fires as a tension release or to produce a feeling of euphoria?
Pyromaniacs
Fires in which the motivation is to destroy evidence of another crime are known as:
Crime concealment
Which of the following age groups most often set fires as the result of psychosocial conflicts?
8-13 year olds
In wildland fires, grass stems and tree trunks that are scorched and charred on one side, but protected on the backside are signs of:
Radiant heat
Firesetters motivated by profit or fraud attempt to cause:
The most amount of damage in the least amount of time
Which of the following is BEST described as critical to the overall success of the fire scene investigation process?
Noting initial scene observations
