The document discusses the investigation of fatal fires. It outlines the nature of fatal fires as accidental, homicidal, suicidal, or used to conceal a homicide. It describes the roles of fire investigators, medical examiners, police, and pathologists in examining the fire scene, body, and determining the cause and origin of the fire as well as cause of death. It also discusses evidence collection and analysis, such as analyzing bloodstain evidence that may be altered by the effects of fire.

1. Jorge Nuno Pinto De Melo
07037694
Forensic
Literature Project
PH3H05
2010/2011

2. Nature of Fatal Fires:
 Accidental
 Homicidal
 Suicidal
 Homicide Concealment
The fatal fire must be viewed as an investigation for
the criminal acts of arson and homicide.

3. Fire
Fire Examination
Examination
Incident
Incident of the body
of the body
Cause and Origin/Investigative
Cause and Origin/Investigative
Canvass
Canvass
Investigativ
Investigativ
ee
Procedure
Procedure Follow-up
Follow-up Arrest and
Investigatio
Investigatio Arrest and
n Trial
Trial
n

4.  Maintenance of the fire scene
 Arrival of the investigator
 Chiefs report

5. •Chief fire officer
•Fire/police investigator.
 Firefighters and other emergency personnel should be
prevented from removing a human body, found in the
charred debris
 Exception to this rule:
 Any doubt as to whether the person is dead
 Danger of fire-structure collapse or falling debris
creating a serious hazard
 A serious threat that the body will be further
damaged by the spread of flames
 The continued presence of the body being a serious
hindrance to firefighting operations.

6.  General observations
 Detailed background
 Identification of himself to
the chief fire officer

7.  Determination whether the fire’s origin and/or cause
were suspicious
Common factors that may determine a fire suspicious:
 The rate of burning was not consistent with the type
of combustibles present in the fire building
 A person died in the fire
 There were questionable or multiple points of origin
 The cause of the fire could not be readily ascertained
 Firefighters noticed an odor of gasoline or other
accelerant

8.  Medical examiner/coroner is responsible for ensuring that
both investigation at the scene and autopsy on the body of the
victim are conducted
 Autopsy is conducted by a forensic pathologist
 Scene investigation is conducted by a medical
examiner/coroner´s representative/physician
 Fire/police investigator advise the local medical examiner´s
office as soon as possible as to the known facts and circumstances
relating to the fire and victim(s).

9. 1. Recording the scene
2. Identifying the victim
3. Determining whether the fire occurred ante- or
postmortem
4. Examining/collecting physical evidence

10.  Photographs of the body in situ
 Photographs of the room and area
 Investigative notes
 Rough sketches

11.  Fire investigator- collect items that can identify the victim
 Forensic odontologist- dental records
 Pathologists- autopsy
 Medical/physical- tattoos, surgical procedures, bones
fractures, unusual deformations, sex race, build, fractures
and approximate age, jewelry, clothing etc.
 Gross identification (friends/relatives)
 Forensic scientists - Fingerprints

12. There are several factor which may help to get to some
conclusions:
Physical examination:
•Was the victim face up or down? (Exception: victim
found in bed or couch)
•Presence of smoke and soot in the mouth and nose if
the victim was alive during the fire
Body damage is described on the table below:

13.  Natural settling of the blood after death
 Gravitational pooling of the blood
 Purplish/Blue-black
 Location depends on position of the body
 Concentrations of carbon monoxide in the
blood cause postmortem lividity to be pink
to cherry-red in color. Redness of the
lividity might indicate that the victim was
alive and breathing at the time of the fire.
• Defensive boxing pose or fetal position.
• Contraction of the muscles due to the
intense heat
•If it doesn’t occur:
•No sufficient heat (flash fire)
•Body in rigor mortis during the fire.

14. Fracture implosive Fracture explosive
 Natural consequence
 Blow in the head
of the fire.
•Medical investigator
Postmortem: limited in size, air with
Blisters small amount of body fluid
Antemortem: larger in size, contain
complex mix of body fluids

15.  Fire investigator: responsible for determining
the fire´s origin and cause (physical
examination)
 Police: responsible for the death investigations
 Medical investigator: authorizes and
supervises the removal of the body.

16. The result of the physical examinations carried out by the
medical examiner will depend on several narrowly
circumscribed factors:
• Cause of the fire (accidental or incendiary).
• The possible use of an accelerant
(gasoline/kerosene,etc)
• Survivability: why the victim failed to escape
safely?!
•Interview friends and/or relatives that have just escaped from
the fire
•The investigator uses the tension and stress manifested by the
fire survivors as a motivating factor to elicit information.

17.  Medicolegal autopsy
 Identification
 Time of death
 Circumstances of death
 Correlation of injuries
 Evidence
 Survivability
 X-rays
 Carboxyhemoglobin
 Alcohol and Controlled Substances
 Toxicology

18. Causes are determined by the pathologist:
 Burns
 Burns plus CO asphyxiation
 Spasm of the epiglottis
 Acute alcoholism plus CO asphyxiation
 Edema
 Shock
 Gunshot wound or stabbing

19. Cause of Fire Cause of Death Investigative Procedure
Accidental CO asphyxiation Close case during follow-up
investigation
Incendiary CO asphyxiation (Homicidal) Investigate as an arson/homicide
Accidental Gunshot, stabbing, manual or
ligature asphyxiation, blunt force
trauma, etc., prior to the fire Motive for the fire important
(Homicidal) Investigate as a homicide
Incendiary Prior to fire Investigate as a homicide
(Homicidal) Fire used to conceal
Accidental CO asphyxiation plus other
natural illness Close case during follow-up
(Accidental)
Incendiary CO asphyxiation Additional Investigate as an arson/homicide
injury (implosive skull fracture) Fire to conceal prior assault or
(Homicidal) attempted homicide.

20.  Police investigator
• In homicide situations (e.g., apparent
shooting or stabbing victim, victim’s
hands and/or feet bound, or ligature
tied around the neck).
• Motive (e.g., domestic, robbery, narcotics, sex crime) becomes
a key issue in identifying a suspect
• Concealment
• Key element: identification of the motive of the fire
• Level of sophistication or technical knowledge exhibited by
the fire setter.

21.  Arrest Based on Probable Cause
 minimum level of proof necessary to justify an
arrest
 must prove every element of the crime beyond a
reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction
 Arrest with a warrant
 Trial
 What to be proved:
1. That crime (arson) was committed
2. That the defendant committed the crime
There is an additional burden of proving:
3. That the actions of the defendant led to the death of the
victim
 All witnesses are called to testify

22.  Internal Bloodstains
 Livor mortis
 postmortem epidural hematoma (brown/honeycomb
structure)
 Internal Changes
 Hemolysis
 External bloodstains
 May fuel the fire
 Wet vs. Dry Bloodstains
 Dried bloodstains keep the original shape and better
configuration with the action of the heat.

23.  The Human body
 Burns
 First degree (superficial): red skin, warm to touch
 Second degree (partial thickness): red skin, blisters
 Third degree (full thickness): burns appear dry and light
colored and blisters are not normally seen.
 Fourth degree: burns involve long exposure to a heat source
which results in the partial cremation of the exposed portion of
the body and extends into layers below the skin
 Smoke and Sludge
 May cover bloodstain evidence on walls and ceilings.
 Target Surfaces
 Some surfaces may preserve bloodstains.

24.  A Fatal fire occurred
 Body found on the floor of the bedroom and it was removed
by Firefighters
 Investigators found that it was used accelerant on the
mattress
 Pathologist found multiple stabbing wounds
 Projected bloodstains were “faded” and lighter in
appearance than the adjacent soot-covered surfaces.
 Swabs were obtained from the altered blood
 “Wet vs dry effect experiment”
 Main objective: identify any physiological differences
between the wet and dry stains, when they were subjected
to fire

25.  Results
 The closer the blood stain to the fire, the more physiological
changes. The further away the stain, the less prevalent the
changes, but these characteristics were still present.
 Stains on painted surfaces were most affected by the fading
phenomenon
 Swiping marks situated further than 50 cm from the fire
darkened in color
 All projected stains near to and at a distance from the fire were
subjected to a darkening effect
 No fading in projected stains
 The effects of water provided physiological changes
 The stains are recognizable as being altered bloodstains and
should be used as part of the bloodstain pattern analysis.
 The “wet vs. dry” experiment may be a valuable piece of
information.

26. Questions?

27.  Barracato, J.S.
Fire … Is it Arson? The Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., Hartford, CT.
1979
 Brannigan, F.L., R.G. Bright, and N.H. Jason
1978 Fire Investigation Handbook. National Bureau of Standards
Handbook No. 134, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
 DeHaan, J., Kirks Fire Investigation, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, New
York, 1983.
 DiMaio, D. J. and Vincent, J. M., Forensic Pathology, CRC Press, Boca
Raton, FL.,1993.
 Furton, Kenneth & Almirall, Jose
Analysis and Interpretation of Fire Scene Evidence
2004

28.  Geberth, V. J., Practical Homicide Investigation, 2nd ed., CRC Press,
Boca Raton,Florida, 1996.
 Gross, E. M., The role of the medical examiner in homicide
investigation, course material, Homicide Investigation Course,
New York City Police Dept., undated.
 Harris, R. I., Outline of Death Investigation, Charles C Thomas,
Springfield, IL, 1962.
 Hughes, D. J., Homicide Investigative Techniques, Charles C Thomas,
Springfield, IL,1974.
 Kennedy, J., Fire and Arson Investigation, Investigations Institute,
Chicago, 1962 (rev.1977).

29.  Kirk, P. L., Fire Investigation, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1969.
 Niamh Nic
Fire Investigation 2004
 O’Hara, C. E., Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation, 5th ed., Charles C Thomas,
 Springfield, IL, 1980.
 Snyder, L., Homicide Investigation, 3rd ed., Charles C Thomas, Springfield, IL,
1977.
 Spitz, W. U., and Fisher, R. S., Medicolegal Investigation of Death: Guidelines for
the
 Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation, Charles C Thomas, Springfield,
 IL, 1973.
 Tomash, M. C. (Craig), Sgt., R.C.M.P., Halifax Regional Forensic Identification
Support
 Section. “How Fire May Effect Crime Scene Bloodstains,” Paper presented at
International Assoc. of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts 1995 Convention, Miami,
FL.
 Watanabe, T., Atlas of Legal Medicine, J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1968.