Exam 4 Flashcards
What is a rapid oxidation process with the evolution of light and heat in varying intensities ?
Fire
What are the 3 basic elements of fire?
- Heat
- Fuel
- Oxygen
What are the 4 parts of the Fire Tetrahedron?
- Heat
- Fuel
- Oxygen
1) Uninhibited (chemical) chain reaction
What are the 3 methods of heat transfer?
- Conduction
- Convection
- Radiation
What is the heat transfer to another body or within a body by direct contact?
Conduction
What is the heat transfer by cicrculation within a medium, such as a gas or liquid?
Convection
What is heat transfer by way of electromagnetic waves?
Radiation
2 types of combustion
- Smoldering
2. Flaming
Types of flames
- Premixed
2. Diffusion
What is any flame in which the fuel and oxidizer are inititially mixed and ignited?
Pre-mixed flame
What is a flame in which fuel and air mix or diffuse together at the region of combustion?
Diffusion
What are the 3 types of fuel?
- Solid
- Liquid
- Gaseous
What type of fuel needs to be heated in order to decompose and produce ignitable vapors?
Solid fuel
What type of fuel needs to produce vapors to be ignited?
Liquid fuel
What is known as the lowest temperature at which a liquid produces vapors at a sufficient rate to support a momentary flame?
Flashpoint
What liquids have a flashpoint of less than 100° F?
Flammable
What liquids have a flashpoint of greater than 100°F?
Combustible
What statue is 18 USC 844 (f)?
Arson of Federal Property
What statue is 18 USC 844(i)?
Business property (interstate commerce)
What are the minimum and maximum pentalies for 18 USC 844(i) for - no injury - injury - death ?
- not less than 5 yrs, not more than 20
- not less than 7 yrs, not more than 40
- not less than 20 yrs,life, or death
What is considered real property?
Land and buildings
What is considered personal property?
Moveable property
What is 18 USC 247(a) ?
Arson of religious property
What are the maximum punishments for 18 USC 247(c) for:
- no injury
- injury
- death ?
- up to 20
- up to 40
- any term of years, life or death penalty
What is 18 USC 844(h)?
Arson to commit another federal felony
What is the mandatory penalty for 18 USC 844 (h) ?
10 years in addition to underlying felony (consecutive not concurrent)
What is 18 USC 844(m)?
Conspiracy to commit 844(h)
In situations in which the property of another is damaged, 844(i) can only be used with which statute as a predicate where death or injury to another results from the fire?
18 USC 924(c)
Arson for profit falls under what statute ?
18 USC 1341 and 1343 wire and mail fraud
18 USC 1957 Simple money laundering
What is when an ATF undercover agent is hired by a person (suspect) who wants a property burned?
Sting
What is when an ATF UC hires a suspected arsonist to burn property?
Reverse sting
In order to prove an attempt to commit 18USC (i) ATF must prove what?
A substantial step was made in trying to commit the arson
T or F ? A UC or CI cannot be one of the 2 required to form a conspiracy?
True, no true criminal agreement
During exigency circumstances who may enter a fire without a warrant?
Firefighters justified by public safety
What firefighters see or smell is admissible under what?
Plain view doctrine
After the fire is extinguished firefighters may remain on the premises to prevent rekindling and preserve the owners property without a search warrant or consent, this is known as?
Overhaul
ATF is not allowed to release criminal case information to everyone because of ?
The Privacy Act of 1974
For ATF to release a file to a company they first must?
- Have insurance company make a request to ATF
2. ATF management can only give information
What may be used to determine if a bullet or casing was shot from a particular gun?
Microscopic comparison of marks on ammunition
What must be packaged and shipped separate from the firearm?
Live ammunition
What is permanence?
Your fingerprints will remain unchanged unless serious injury that leaves a permenant scar
How are fingerprints unique?
No 2 people have the same arrangement of friction ridges
Do identical twins have the same arrangement of friction ridges?
No
What reduces the chance that latent prints will be found on a weapon that submitted to the lab ?
Excessive handling
Where can latent prints be obtained from tape?
On both the adhesive and non-adhesive sides
What is FATT?
Fingers Away from person being printed
Thumbs Towards person being printed
Major case prints have how many impressions for each finger?
5
Major case prints should be taken not on a standard fingerprint card but on?
Plain 8x8 cards or white paper
What is Next Generation Identification (NGI)?
Latent fingerprint and palm print database ran by the FBI
What lighting can be used to help visualize prints?
Oblique lighting
What is fire debris analyzed for?
The presence of ignitable liquids
What are the best samples to collect fire debris?
Absorbent and protected from the heat of the fire
What are the worst samples for collecting fire debris?
- Non-porous surfaces such as glass or metal
- heavily charred debris
- samples with contributions from pyrolysis
What is the most important aspect of collecting fire debris?
Ensuring you put it in a vapor tight container
What are reccomended for collecting solid samples of fire debris?
Metal cans, preferably lined but NOT gold lined
Metals cans used for fire debris collection should be how full?
No more than 2/3
You should package what in separate boxes when shipping to the lab ?
Suspect and scene evidence
Can old containers be reused for packaging evidence
No
What is the exception for cells in the human body where DNA can be found?
Red blood cells (no nucleus )
DNA testing cannot tell what?
- How long ago DNA was deposited
- The source of the DNA
- Age, race or physical appearance of individual
What is the best way to prevent contamination before collecting a new item of evidence?
Change gloves right before handling
When both fire debris and DNA analysis are needed what packaging guidelines should be followed?
The fire debris guidelines
You should submit known examples from who?
- Victim(s)
- Suspect(s)
- Known handlers
- Owner of property
- LE who may have come in contact with evidence
What is the easiest way to collect reference samples?
Use sterile cotton swabs
Low explosives undergo what?
Deflagration
High explosives undergo what?
Detonation
What are the best sources of post-blast/residue particles?
- Device container frags
- Blast seat
- Witness material
Can you combine different chemicals or explosives in the same package?
No
When submitting intact explosives you must use what common carrier?
FEDEx
What can associate an item with a suspect in their environment, or may associate items of the evidence from different locations to one another?
Trace evidence
What are collected writings such as Drivers license , cancelled checks etc.?
Standards
What are requested of the subject and filled out on an ATF 7100.7?
Exemplars
What are the 4 stages of a fire?
- Ignition
- Growth
- Fully developed
- Decay
What happens when heat is transferred by the methods of convection, conduction and radiation?
The fire spreads
What area of a room will make a fire grow the fastest?
Corner configuration
What is the transition phase in fire development when all combustibles in the room reach ignition temperatures simultaneously?
Flashover phase
What are the 2 major types of fuel air explosions that are most commonly encountered by fire investigators ?
- Mechanical explosions
2. Chemical explosions
What type of explosion have a high gas pressure that creates an internal pressure within a confining container and produces a purely physical reaction?
Mechanical explosions
What is the most common explosion and is also referred to as a gas/vapor explosion, a fuel-air explosion or a combustion explosion?
Chemical explosion
What is a mechanical explosion involving the expansion and subsequent failure of a vessel containing liquid?
BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion)
What explosions involve solid, combustible or explosive mixtures, but the most common to the fire investigator will be reactions involving gases, vapors or dusts?
Chemical explosion
What are those explosions that occur most often when the fuels are dispersed or diffused at the time of the explosion because of the rates of pressure rise are moderate and because the explosive velocities are subsonic?
Non-seated explosions
Chemical explosions require a chemical reaction that could occur during what 3 reactions?
- Combustion reaction
- Decomposition reaction
- Rapid exothermic reaction
What are the 3 types of combustion explosions?
- Lean
- Rich
- Stoichiometric
What are the 7 steps of the systematic approach?
- Recognize the need
- Define the problem
- Collect the data
- Analyze the data
- Develop a hypothesis
- Test the hypothesis
- Select final hypothesis
When examining a fire scene for origin and cause you should start with what?
- Exterior to interior
2. Least damage to most damage
What is the intentional or unintentional destruction of evidence which would prohibit the interested parties from a fair examination of evidence?
Spoliation
What incendiary fire indicator involves arranging fuel to move or trail the fire to areas?
Trailering
What is “negative corpus”?
The credible elimination of all other potential ignition sources
What will the final hypothesis report answer?
- Where did the fire begin? (Origin)
2. How did the fire start? (Cause)
What are the 3 typical causes an ATF CFI will conclude?
- Accidental
- Incendiary
- Undetermined
What is an additional catergory for fire caused without human intervention or action?
Natural
Who is the only Bureau employee that is allowed to render an expert opinion on fire causation and testify as an expert on the same?
ATF certified fire investigator
What are the 2 types of insurance agents?
- Captive
2. Independent
What insurance terminology refers to what is uninsured, I.e buildings, contents business interruption?
Risk
What insurance terminology refers to temporary insurance, until the policy is issued?
Binder
What insurance terminology refers to the insurance company’s analysis of risk and determination of premium ?
Underwriting file
What insurance terminology refers to the insuring document?
Policy
What insurance terminology refers to a change to policy?
Endorsement
What insurance terminology refers to the summary of insured, coverage amounts, endorsements, loss payees, additionally insured and mortgages?
Declaration sheet
What insurance terminology refers to someone other than the insured who will receive money directly from payment of a claim?
Loss payee
What insurance terminology refers to a document that is the formal chain of the insured?
Proof of loss
What insurance terminology refers to if a claim is not paid in a timely manner the insurance company can be fined up to triple the amount of the claim?
Bad faith
What insurance terminology refers to advanced payments made to the insured before claim is paid or denied?
Additional living expense
What insurance terminology refers to compensating the insured for monies lost while business is closed down?
Business interruption
What is a non- profit organization that receives support from 1000+ insurance companies ?
The national insurance crime bureau (NICB)
What is an excellent resource for any complex arson case involving the insurance industry?
NICB
What is the most common red flag of insurance fraud?
Prior losses. Usually small test fires
What is an ATF forensic auditor?
- highly trained accountant
- Knowledgeable of financial transactions
- Understands LE investigative techniques
At a fire scene how do we obtain records?
- Consent
2. Search warrant
Who are some people at a fire scene of a business that should be interviewed?
- Owner
- Employees
- Neighborhood canvas
- Insurance agent
- Suppliers
- Customers
What is the best question to ask an owner of a business at a fire scene?
How is business?
What are the 3 credit reporting agencies?
- TransUnion
- Equifax
- Experian
What is net worth?
Your money, assests etc. minus your debtw
What is arson-for-profit?
Insurance fraud
Why would a businessman burn his building down?
- Greed
- Retire
- Remodel
- Cover-up other crimes
Possession of a Molotov Cocktail (Destructive Device) falls under what statute?
26 USC 5861(d)
What is the most common motive for committing arson?
To defraud an insurance company
How do flame spread?
- Upward and outward
- buoyance principle
- path of least resistance
What is the major way heat is transferred at the beginning of a fire?
Convection
What is the major way heat is transferred half way through and and the end of the fire?
Radiation
How many kilowatts does a 1. Trash basket 2. Large polyurethane chair 3. 1 gallon of gasoline 4. Large Polyurethane sofa give off?
- 50kw
- 1000kw
- 1600kw
- 3000kw
What is used to measure the size of a fire/ amount of energy ?
Kilowatts
What is when a fire in a room becomes a room on fire?
Flashover
in terms of the scientific approach documenting the scene refers to?
collecting data
at the fire scene security of the scene is considered what part of the scientific approach?
define the problem
What are some examples of indicators for an incendiary fire?
- Multiple origins
- ignitable liquids
- crime concealment
- Trailers
- Disabled fire protection
When something is gassing off turning from a solid or a liquid into fuel it is known as
pyrolysis
When burn patterns extend up and out you have a?
V pattern
the level of smoke staining on the walls is called?
lines of demarcation
the drying out of sheet rock by heat or direct flame impingement is called
calcination
Clean burns are created by
direct fuel impingement, duration and fuel load
the drying out of concrete caused by makeup, fuel loads or ignitable liquids is called
spalling
candle flames are considered to be what type of diffusion flame?
Laminar
the ideal combustion level with the ideal amount of fuel is known as
stoichiometric
What is the role of forensic auditors?
- Analyze records needed and how to obtain those records
- analyze records for investigative needs
- conduct financial interviews
- testify at trial
What are some services provided by the lab?
- Fire debris
- Explosives
- Firearms/tool marks
- latent fingerprints
- DNA
