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Crime Scene Arch > Fatal Fire Crime Scenes > Flashcards

Fatal Fire Crime Scenes Flashcards

1
Q

Fatal Fire Scenes

A

Common method to attempt concealing, altering or destroying evidence

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1
Q

What should you look at during a fatal fire scene?

A
  • manner of death
  • victim position, orientation, and location
  • peri-mortem trauma
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2
Q

Why are fatal fire scenes highly complex scenes?

A
  • remains and related evidence altered by fire
  • homogeneous coloration
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3
Q

Potential consequences of scene recovery or documentation errors and omissions

A
  • disturbance of evidence or alteration of context
  • post-mortem fragmentation
  • hampers biological profile estimates, trauma analysis, and past-event reconstruction
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4
Q

Fire response and investigation agencies

A
  • Erie International Airport Fire Department (Erie, PA)
  • Franklin Township Fire Department, Station 72 (Franklin Center, PA)
  • Cecil Township #3 Volunteer Fire Department (McDonald, PA)
  • Montgomery County Fire Department (Waynesboro, PA)
  • London Fire Department (Ontario, Canada)
  • Greg Olson, Ontario (Canada) Fire Marshall
  • Mercyhurst University (Erie, PA) faculty and students
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5
Q

Main goals and components

A

1.) Scene processing
2.) Analysis and interpretation of heat/fire altered bone
3.) Effects on trauma analysis

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6
Q

Scene processing

A

Protocols and guidelines for the recovery and documentation of fatal fire scenes
- including treatment and handling of physical evidence
- examination of current protocols and testing of newly developed ones

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7
Q

Scene efficacy and efficiency

A

Maximizing data collection
- spatial, stratigraphic, and contextual data
- written and graphic documentation
- chain of custody

Maximizing detection and recovery rates
- percentage of evidentiary items recovered per time unit

Minimizing evidence alteration

Minimizing recovery times
- area processed per time unit

Maximizing integration of all scene processing tasks
- fluid information flow within and between teams, with minimal delays, inefficiencies, and information losses
- cooperation between teams, allowing to carry out all recovery components simultaneously
- prevent bottlenecks: idle task units waiting for a second team to finish their tasks
- personnel management: possibility of aid, reinforcement, etc.

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8
Q

Temperature data for component 2

A

Thermal alteration

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9
Q

Materials and documentation for component 3

A

Trauma analysis

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10
Q

Protocol development

A
  • comprehensive examination of hundreds of real fire reports in Canada (Greg Olson)
  • Detect the main deficiencies and inconsistencies in current documentation protocols
  • Developing, testing, and refinement of new technological and operational protocols
  • efficacy and efficiency in realistic scenarios
  • comparison of efficiency and efficacy of novel vs. classic protocols
  • law enforcement, fire investigators, and fire responders
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11
Q

Fire responder training exercises

A
  • Strathroy, Ontario (Feb 2009)
  • Malahide, Ontario (Sept 2009)
  • Erie, PA (Oct 2009)
  • Franklin Center, PA (Nov 2009)
  • McDonald, PA (Nov 2009)

Real cases:
- Waynesboro, PA (Mar 2010)
- Mercyhurst University casework
- Colgan Air 3407 crash (Buffalo, NY, Feb 2000)

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12
Q

Field exercises: before burning

A
  • photography and videography
  • spatial documentation (ex. hand drawn floor plan; stylized floor plan)
  • electronic structural information forms
  • placement and documentation of evidence (using an animal model from commercial food industry)
  • thermocouple placement (in both structures and carcasses)
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13
Q

Traditional search by fire responders and fire investigators

A

Simulated scenario briefing
- meth lab, three suspected victims, etc.
- search according to their agency’s protocols

Goals:
- comparing efficiency and efficacy
- strong/weak spots

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14
Q

New protocols: line search

A

hands and knees search

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15
Q

New protocols: general documentation

A

Written: introduction of simplified relational databases
- handwritten notes reduction

Photography and videography
- ability to start works immediately and independently
- bottleneck reduction and detection

Topographic information
- GPS Trimble-R8 and/or electronic total station
- same considerations than with photography teams

Best practice: EACH team member has FIRSTHAND experience in the tasks and documentation protocols of the remaining teams
- rotations training with other teams
- create and implement training sessions with this sole goal if necessary

16
Q

New protocols: excavation

A
  • Establish search/excavation corridors and grid system
  • progress from the periphery to the center
  • move to a more archaeological (horizontal) technique upon evidence detection
17
Q

Quick excavation technique in the periphery

A

Paleontological style: “Cutting the Cake”

18
Q

New protocols: screening

A

Pre-screening in tarps
- buckets sorted by excavator and excavation unit
- one excavator– one screener
- IMMEDIATE alert upon detection of any evidence or significant element
- move to strict archaeological excavation in affected unit and surrounding ones

19
Q

New protocols: hand drawn map

A

Complement to GPS and Total Station maps
- common reference points to integrate and combine all three maps
- only significant elements, with higher level of detail
- easier to compare with photographs

Easier and more immediate interpretation of the most significant elements by analysts, law enforcement, law officials, and juries

20
Q

True/False: New protocols: recovery and documentation of physical evidence

A

True

21
Q

True/False: New protocols: complete treatment of the scene

A

True

22
Q

Efficacy original goals

A
  • maximizing data collection
  • maximizing detection and recovery of human remains and physical evidence
  • minimizing evidence disturbance and alteration
23
Q

Efficiency original goals

A
  • minimizing recovery times
  • maximizing the harmonization and integration of all recovery and documentation tasks
24
Q

Efficacy: maximizing data collection

A

Spatial documentation
- spatial data at three resolution levels
- hand drawn, total station, and GPS
- can be collected simultaneously

TRIMBLE R8 can even substitute total station
- Geo-correction in real time (mobile phone infrastructure)
- Sub-centimeter errors with close base and optimal satellite geometry (lower than that derived from prism pole placement)
- Efficient: 3-10 seconds per data point

Well-defined vertical stratigraphy, but hard to document in physical profile
- recognizable strata of materials, reflecting floor plans and levels
- Steno and Harris laws
- But strata not compacted (loose materials, hard to excavate in profile)

Detecting and documenting contextual relationships
- ex. bullet casing in bathtub covered by melted glass suggests placement before the window broke

Position, orientation, and posture of body (ex. surprisingly well preserved)

25
Q

Efficacy: recovery rates

A

Small elements
- 66-90% in situ
- increase=50% over previous protocols
- close to 100% in closest

Mid-sized elements
- tarp pre-screening increases recovery rates to 90-100% reducing screening time/effort
- 85-90% of recovered in situ

Bone
- close to 100% in situ
- including minute elements and fragments

26
Q

Efficacy: minimizing evidence alteration

A

In situ treatment
- comprehensive documentation of trauma and trauma characteristics in situ
- brittle and thermally altered elements
- aluminum foil and/or plastic wrap covering head, hands and traumatized areas (to prevent fragment losses and minimizing alteration)
- rigid boards in body bags (lifting and transporting as a block, to be processed at lab or morgue)

27
Q

Efficiency: minimizing processing times

A
  • one story building: 8 hours of actual excavation time (along 1.5 days)
  • two story house: 1-2 additional days
28
Q

Efficiency: team imbrication and cooperation

A

Early detection and integrated documentation of elements relevant for fire investigation

Trade-offs of extinction methods
- rapid standard extinction method
(displacement and alteration of evidence)
- Mist hosing (delays recovery effort: materials still very hot or slowly combusting after 24 hours; evidence being still heat-altered during this time)

Crime Scene Arch (5 decks)

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