Essay Example on Fire Investigation Process: Sizing Up & Responding Instantly

Introduction

In the fire investigation process, the first step involved in the preliminary scene evaluation and examination, that is, sizing up. Best results are often achieved when a trained fire investigator is notified on the incident of severe fire and responds instantly or immediately just after dispatch of the fire apparatus. Upon arrival at a fatal fire scene, such as a fire in Port, there should be shoreside departments who respond to the fire, and an incident commander (IC) from the local jurisdiction will be in charge of the fire scene as the authorized official (2020). Therefore, the investigator should always inform the Incident Commander of his or her arrival and that it is not a courtesy. The IC usually takes care of the safety of the persons available at the scene. The investigator has the role of establishing authority over the fire incident. If there is a need to delay and eliminate some unnecessary operations, he or she should address and make proper arrangements.

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The investigator might delay operations such as property survey, media news surveys, occupants' return, salvage operations, and repair crew inspections in an attempt to take full authority of the scene. He or she should seek particular information from the IC concerning activities in fire suppression. It will involve activities such as identifying companies on the scene, their placements, assignments given to them, the tactics & strategies employed at the scene, reactions based on efforts to put the fire off, the methods of ventilation used, fire locations upon arrival, unusual smells noticed among other activities. As an investigator, find out about overhaul operations that might have been conducted before you arrived at the scene. Find out if any chemical additive substances or foam were used by the suppression companies in earlier attempts to stop the fire. Also, consult if any materials were removed, their type, their location, and who removed them. All the above information should be provided by the firefighters present at the scene and that they are liable for delivering first hand and reliable data, which is timely, complete, and accurate.

Another essential factor to consider as an investigator is the time and alarm methods available at the scene upon your arrival. Through time, you can tell the intensity of the fire situation as from the first instant of time the incident started through the time the fire suppression companies first arrived up to the time you first arrived at the scene. For this reason, as an investigator, you should interview the individuals reporting the fire incident and take notes on time (s) the fire suppression companies first arrived to try and contain the situation. The conditions and circumstances of the fire should be considered through observation by the investigator at his or her time of arrival and not through other means of data collection. The damages made should be noted both as external and internal damages. External damages are those extending outside the component that the fire started, while internal damages are those experienced inside the component.

As an investigator, you should note the progress made by the fire suppression teams upon your arrival. Natural ventilation should be observed and rated against the fire suppression ventilation methods employed. Also, you should be able to take note of any removals made such as that of furnishings, debris, supplies, stock, among others, and also ensure safety and security measures are employed appropriately. Identification of the origin of the fire and the damage caused before the investigator's arrival is crucial, and wasted time can be determined afterwards. Like for instance, locations or points with extensive damages do not always denote the origin of the fire but can as well be as a result of the efforts made by the fire suppression teams. Once a fire has been brought under control, damages can still be worse, and it doesn't mean the property has been saved.

In fire suppression, there are areas of immediate attention as opposed to others. These areas include those protecting the lives of people, high-value areas, areas with dangerous materials, and those preventing fire extensions. Thus, the investigator should always take note of the open spaces with visible flames and burning fuels upon arrival. Take note of any structural collapses, both complete and partial fracture. It will involve identifying if there were any exposures to flammable substances or even ignition of any hazardous items. If there was an explosion and that if the fire suppression team were at any instant forced to evacuate the scene due to fast fire spreading. Also, the weather conditions at the scene should be taken into consideration and recorded by the investigator upon arrival. It consists of the wind direction(s), its speed, and weighed against the fire prevailing conditions and intensity. Other weather conditions include rainfall, ice, and snow. Therefore, the investigator should take note of the systems available in fire protections such as standpipes, alarms, smoke detectors, and sprinklers. Efficiency and effectiveness of the above systems should be evaluated and determined by the investigator and also, for the case of alarms, note the time they went off plus if there is the presence of video recording systems such as CCTVs, tapes, or even printouts.

A Team Approach

A team approach is an efficient and effective technique for thorough and systematic fire investigations. Local fire investigators are required to come up with an effective and reliable investigatory team by use of the scarce resources available at the community level, county level, state, or national level ("interFIRE, A site dedicated to improving fire investigation worldwide.", 2020). He or she is also required to seek new resources. During the creation of a fire investigation plan, for your community, for example, you have to explore all the resources available plus the personnel needed fully. The personnel, in this case, include the municipal police department, the state police, the state's fire marshal offices, sheriff's department, and also the ATF field offices ("interFIRE, A site dedicated to improving fire investigation worldwide.", 2020). Through this approach, individuals are added to the team and also, all of their agency's resources are brought to bear. It includes an affiliated forensic accountant, a crime scene technician who is well-equipped, or even a public records database. Forensic laboratories that are approved can also be included. Each individuals' role, execution of their duties, and agency definition in the fire investigation are stated afterwards.

Fire investigation can engage a team of at least two or as many as fifty individuals or even more depending on the resources available and the nature of the incident. The resources available defines the team's composition. Individual roles are outlined based on each case even though tasks assignment based on case-by-case occurrence; however, duties discharged at the scene of fire do not change. Irrespective of the team members available, such as a two-member team that is a fire investigator and a police officer, duties can effectively be assigned, and tasks (investigative) correctly carried out. Duty coordination is usually through the team leader who carries out the overall investigative work and also taking care of the safety of the scene and personnel involved.

The leadership of the team has several duties to conduct. The duties include:

• Selection and assembling of equipment and personnel in addition to coordinating other jurisdictions.
• Conducting of the scene overview.
• Determination and establishment of scene integrity, its security, and its safety.
• Establishing command posts and media control.
• Coordination of all personnel and searching patterns.
• Assigning investigative personnel and the general search area.
• Conducting scene walkthroughs together with the team members investigating the source, causes, and forensics in handling.
• Assigning immediate search areas and personnel for investigation.
• Conducting final scene evaluation conferences.
• Managing, evaluating, and finalizing investigative and search actions.

Lack of resources is always problematic, especially in the implementation of the team approach, even though it is the best approach in fire investigations. Regardless of the assets available, the above leadership duties are considered, assigned, carried out at the fire scene, and then finally recorded and documented. A team structure may be that there is taking on multiple roles by one individual. The tasks and duties are assigned before fire investigation for the system to function as smoothly as possible. Planning and coordination usually save on time and also improves fire scene quality. The task is usually tricky and challenging at the start, but once the duties and responsibilities have been assigned and implemented, there will be a flow of the investigation in a smooth way.

The Body Tells a Story

In handling fire fatalities and injuries, it is usually a grim, and this is the work of the fire investigator (Hasofer & Thomas, 2006). It involves thorough investigations into the fire scene fatalities and injuries because the bodies at the scene tell the investigator about the fire. Often, a body subjected to fire effects and heat can reveal an explosion or fire in addition to what might have happened before, during the fire, and also after. For this reason, the investigator can trace the origin of the fire, determine its cause, incendiary fire motivity, and responsibilities involved. During fire scene investigation, one can tell when and if the incident might lead to criminal or civil trial because it might take a long time (years) before an investigator is called upon to testify about the case. Therefore, proper documentation and collection of reliable evidence are vital for the investigator so that it can be easy to recall the situation or incident even years after its occurrence, which makes the judicial procedures successful. Fire injuries and deaths can be associated with crimes like robbery, arson, and homicide. Fatal fires do create media interests, which is a public concern on the addition to other parties' investigation scrutiny; this is more than different fire types. Thus, investigative techniques and actions are to defend the scrutiny.

Fire investigators have to be aware of fatality processing in a proper way, which helps in preserving their evidentiary values. Investigative conclusions will always be compromised with improper practice involvement by the fire investigator, which also compromises evidence admissibility during the trial. Moreover, even with a victim who is not deceased at the fire scene, the investigator has to apply the most appropriate measures and practices in evidence collection, consulting with the medical staff available, and injury documentations. He or she can also collect clothing. The victims who survive at the fire scene act as crucial evidence and patterns that are used by the investigator in the analysis of the case. Investigative integrity is a continuous process even when a victim dies upon removal from the hospital or any form of attention and that; this involves proper procedures. Fire services, police personnel, and the EMS are usually the first responders to the fire scene; thus, they come in contact with victims first whether inside the fireground when carrying out rescue and suppression measures or outside the fireground while rescued or escaped victims are receiving first aid and treatment.

First responders have to act in a particular manner to help preserve evidence from both seriously injured victims and deceased victims. It involves qui...