Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Parmelee on July 12, 2011 at 12:47pm

In theory with wildland fires the area with least damage is the area of origin but with structural fires the area with the most damage is the area of origin. With that being said there are many factors that can effect that general statement. With wildland fires you have wind, humidity, slope steepness, aspect, and configuration of the land can all influence fire intensity and the rate of spread. There are a lot of similiarities between wildland and structural fire investigations but they are really two different ways of looking at fires. Interviewing, picture taking, etc will apply to both types of fires.

To start out with I would recommend going to CFI Trainer (http://www.cfitrainer.net/) which is a website that provides a lot of on-line training for fire investigators that is free. This website is sponsored by the International Association of Arson Investigators. You do not need to be a member of IAAI to use this site. They do have a wildland fire investigation module that you should go through. I would also recommend getting a copy of NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. If you have never seen this book then you need to read it. It is a "Guide" but is considered the standard that we should follow for doing investigations. There is a chapter devoted to wildland fires in the book.

Good luck out there. Hopefully this will get you going in the right direction.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Allen on October 27, 2011 at 3:14pm

Contact the guys at South Carolina Forestry.  They teach classes all over the country on wildfire investigation and really know their stuff.  Start with Chief West...numbers can be obtained from their web site.  Be safe.