Scientific Investigative Techniques in Arson Investigation

Scientific Investigative Techniques in Arson Investigation

Introduction

Fires, by nature, are often destructive, and in the course of their carnage, they destroy evidence as they progress and grow. As such, many investigations of fires are compromised. When fire battalions come to fight the fire, more evidence is often destroyed by high-powered water jets. Their efforts are not centred on the protection of evidence but rather on protecting more property from getting damaged by the raging fire or the lives of people. With this knowledge in mind, it suffices to maintain that this paper will explore the arson attack that has just taken place at one of the Novandon Discount Department Stores.

The Novandon Discount Department Store is one of the most successful stores in America today. However, through the local media outlets, I was also aware of the fact that some grumbling female workers in this place were relieved of their duties. The burning of their store in this locality ignites suspicion in me because the source of the fires came from three places, and the presence of three gas containers used for filling lawnmowers only heightened my suspicion. After the fire battalion leaves the scene after extinguishing the fire, my investigation will intensify to ascertain whether my suspicion of the fire is right. However, while the battalion fire chief and his crew fight the fire, it is vital that my team has to take several actions pertaining to the crowd of onlookers that might help us to identify the possible offenders. In this case, owners, customers, passers-by, delivery agents, and even security personnel could all have pertinent information (“A Guide for Investigating Fire and Arson,” 2009). Besides, an issue to contend with is the presence of journalists and curious individuals attracted to the scene, which could further complicate the investigation. As it has always been maintained, “A fire investigation is like a picture puzzle. Everyone involved with it has some of the pieces, but no one has the whole picture. It is up to the investigator to gather enough of these pieces together to solve the puzzle” (Samuel et al., 2000).

Importance of crowd of onlookers

Subsequently, the first action is to ensure that my team carefully looks at the crowd for anyone behaving strangely and not as calm as the rest. This will help ensure that first-time offenders or other nervous offenders evade eye contact with people or that the investigators behave suspiciously. Also, asking members of the on-looking crowd and persons around when the crime took place would help establish the likely source of the fires and if suspicious persons were seen.

Important areas in crime scene searching

Crucially, as an investigator, I would check various areas of interest to ensure that the scene would be searched safely. In this case, I would instruct some members of my investigative team to identify the location where the fire began and an obvious fire cause that includes the sources of ignition, circumstances of the events that brought the first fuel ignited, and the ignition source. Once this point is determined, it will essentially provide us with the confirmation or contradiction of the owners, witnesses, suspects, security, workers, and even the suspects’ statements. Generally, fires burn longer or near the origin point of the fire. As such, the damage is greater around this point. Basically, the cause of the fire will often be found very close to or at the point of origin. Physical evidence of the cause of the fire, be it accidental or incendiary, will often be recovered. After the point of origin is identified, it will ensure that the entire scene will be safely searched without more danger from the already established source.

Another potent way to ensure that the scene is safely searched includes taking several measures. For instance, when neither the origin of the fire nor the cause is apparent to the investigators, the investigating team would have to examine the scene that follows the NFPA 921 guidelines or find other more experienced persons for that specific job. The investigators, at this point, should be aware of when to make a request for specialized individuals, as well as obtaining the specialized equipment that is required to aid the success of the investigation, which would include various instruments such as clean and unused containers that carry evidence, barrier tape, evidence tags, tape, and labels, gloves, hand tools, flashlights, personal protective equipment, photographic equipment, and writing equipment.

Subpoenaed documents

In the Novandon Discount Department Store, various personnel records and business papers should be subpoenaed. However, it is crucial to note that under normal circumstances, access to personnel files is limited to the human resource staff, as well as the immediate supervisor to the employees or the manager, and those files are not allowed to be from the Human Resources office (Heathfield, 2020). Personnel files will be subpoenaed because their employer may need a certain document to justify the decisions if they get sued. Personnel records include basic information that entails personal information, such as the employees’ full names, social security numbers, addresses, birth, and hiring documents. Over the recent years, a surging number of rules have emerged to be applied to businesses, especially when they are needed to ascertain the efficacy of the actions taken to address complaints in the workplace.

The easiest way to develop evidence to prove their case is to document every step taken from the period of the incident reporting to the decisions and conclusions made after investigations were completed. Documentation can also be crucial to the defence. Plausible documentation by managers and supervisors could mean the difference between the chances of a business winning or losing a lawsuit related to employment. For instance, in this case, a well-documented pattern of a given employee’s poor performance at the workplace and even the notion of discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, nationality origin, or xenophobic claims. With this, the involved employer could have a difficult time proving that without any documentation. With this in mind, these documents need to be subpoenaed to determine the likelihood of the fired employees coming from this store involved in a fishy fire case. Also, the documents could be used in a court of law to prove the reasons why some female workers were laid off from their jobs (Gerard, 2021). The documents could lead investigators to identify every individual who works in the store or has been recently fired. This is done to see if one of them or some had the motive for burning down the store as a way to get back to the business for the dismissal they may have deemed unfair.

Artifacts of a fire

Further, artefacts of a fire that indicate the heat of the fire and the point of origin include fuel sources, incendiary devices, electrical appliances, or accelerant pools. Electric fires from their appliances are responsible for many fires. In this case, when an electrical current goes through, a material resistance is met, and heat is thereby produced. The wiring of electrical appliances is often produced so that the heat produced is quite low and would reduce.

There are other rare occasions when the heat that is produced may reach hazardous levels to cause ignition. The main cause is the electric arc that occurs when two conductors get into contact after the cable’s insulation is destroyed or even mildly damaged, which could be through overheating, mechanical damage, overloading, or even defects in manufacturing. Should the cable become too hot due to the coiling of the wires, there will not be a dissipation of the head, and the resulting factor is that the insulation material will melt, and the consequence is that the conductors will touch (“Fire Investigation – The Forensics Library,” n.d.). On the other hand, overloading takes place when more power passes through the cable, but when it is not designed to pass through that power, it causes the melting of the insulation. When the suspected origin of the fire is the electrical appliances, the equipment has to be investigated thoroughly. This case’s expert must first ascertain that the appliance was turned on or off; or if it had a supply of power.

Elements of evidence

Besides, when it comes to the elements of evidence in the scene, this early morning includes evidence of gas containers that strongly smelled of gasoline. In this case, at the Novandon Discount Department Store, three similar containers that reeked of gas were found close to the scene where the fire was burning the store. In essence, it could suggest that the fire was started by three persons who were present at the scene or even one person who carried three small containers.

Also, the burning pattern of the fire around the scene could also play a key role in this case. The potent reason gasoline could be the most viable reason is that the burning pattern is irregular, with seemingly three sources. The presence of gasoline containers in the scene solidifies the case that this could fire was set intentionally and was in no way accidental.

Collection of evidence

Conversely, when it comes to the collection of evidence, various measures have to be taken. Various evidence is found in crime scenes. In this case, the burning pattern of the fire, which is irregular because the fire had three points of origin, needs to be documented photographically and show its location and the appearance of the containers. Before the containers are whisked away, they must be photographed to get fingerprints if there is a chance that they could later be damaged during transportation to the laboratory. Also, photographing at the laboratory could also be vital because the lighting available could ensure that better photographs are taken to preserve the evidence.

Furthermore, the containers found at the crime scene need to be secured properly by placing them in a paper bag or an envelope. Also, they should be put separately to prevent cross-contamination. It is also crucial that the plastic bags are not used because the moisture could collect in the bag, thereby altering the evidence. Contamination of evidence has always brought notoriety in several cases. As is often the case, the contamination of physical evidence at the crime scene is often made during packaging, collection, analysis of evidence, or even transportation. Inasmuch as forensic scientists have made efforts to tremendously reduce the contamination of evidence through various protocols, the police have failed or have been much slower in putting measures to curtail the likelihood of the issue from repeating.

Still, the evidence bags must be closed, sealed, or taped. At this point, the examiner has to label initials, dates, and even times across the area that have been sealed (Baldwin & May 2017). The bags should also be labelled, and the examiner has to place the signature, time, and date on the envelope. The main focus of the investigator at a crime scene is that they have to properly tag and mark the items to bolster the identification of the items much later when needed (Kleypas & Badiye, 2020). Through tagging, marking, and labelling, evidence increases the credibility towards positive identification of the evidence.

Method for search

Nevertheless, one of the efficacious ways to identify the presence of an accelerant is using an individual’s sense of smell (Cafe, 1993). Without a doubt, the human sense of smell can efficaciously identify accelerant presence, even in trace amounts. This capability differs among investigators and can develop as experience among the investigative team intensifies. For instance, when somebody smells debris of fire, they do it because they are trying to sample the headspace on the debris and the noting of chemical fingerprints present in the headspace.

Necessary equipment for crime scene search

When the notion of needed kits comes to mind, the equipment needed essentially to make the conduction of crime scene search easier is the fingerprint kit. It is an essential kit for crime scene investigations. It contains fingerprint powder with different colours to ensure that investigators choose colours that are different from the surface that the fingerprints are on. The powder could also be in fluorescent form for it to display under infrared, ultraviolet, or laser light. Still, the investigators use fibreglass dusting brushes to apply powder, whilst the camel hairbrushes are used to clean the dust from the prints, latent print cards, tapes used in the clear lifting, and disposable gloves, as well as the palm print roller.

Also, the casting kit is needed for the preservation of tyre prints and footprints. It includes a casting compound, a water container, casting powder, mixing tools, and various-sized casting frames. Snow Print Wax spray provides investigators with the ability to take castings present in snow. This kit could include an extruder gun that gives the investigators the ability to take impressions from the tool marks. Still, a section of investigators takes serial number restoration fluid that enables them to decide if a serial number has been scraped clean of a gun or any other evidence piece.

From the discussion above, it is clear that the arson committed in this store was in no way an accident. The location of three containers that smelled strongly of gasoline and the point of origin at three different places proved that it was not accidental. The speculation, in this case, is proof that it was an intentional fire set up by several of the fired female workers from this Department store. Also, the fact that the offenders did not take it upon themselves to get rid of the obvious link to the arson, which included the containers, has a meaning. It means that they wanted it to look like an act of obvious revenge, or they were too emotional to realize that they had left crucial evidence behind.

References

A Guide for Investigating Fire and Arson. National Institute of Justice. (2009). https://bit.ly/3hGV0yX

Baldwin, H., & May, C. (2017). Crime Scene Contamination Issues. Crime-scene-investigator.net. https://bit.ly/2XAqLCS

Cafe, T. (1993). T.C. Forensic: Article 4 – AIDS USED FOR DETECTING ACCELERANTS AT FIRE SCENES. Tcforensic.com.au. https://www.tcforensic.com.au/docs/article4.html.

Fire Investigation – The Forensics Library. Aboutforensics.co.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2021, from https://aboutforensics.co.uk/fire-investigation/.

Heathfield, S. (2020). Essential Elements of an Employee Personnel File. The Balance Careers. https://bit.ly/2XnNlyN

Kleypas, D. A., & Badiye, A. (2020). Evidence collection. StatPearls [Internet].

Samuels, J. E., Boyd, D. G., & Rau, R. M. (2000). Fire and Arson Scene Evidence: A Guide for Public Safety Personnel.

Gerard, J. (2021). The Importance of Documenting Incidents & Investigations. I-Sight. https://bit.ly/

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You are the supervisor for the Beatts City Arson Squad. It is 3:00 a.m., and the temperature is below freezing. Your unit is called to a suspicious fire scene. Your team consists of you and 3 others. Upon arrival, you discover that the fire is at the Novandon Discount Department Store. There are 6,000 of these stores in the United States, and they are very successful. This store is two stories high and has a customer elevator in the front of the store and a freight elevator in the rear.

The battalion fire chief reported to you that the crowd of onlookers braving the cold to watch the fire contained about 100 people. In addition, the battalion chief provides you with 3 plastic gas containers (3 gallons each), the type used for putting gas in lawnmowers. They all have residual amounts of what smells like gasoline in them. The spouts are attached, and the caps are off of all three cans. One of your investigators takes them as evidence.

The battalion chief related that the fire had 3 points of origin. One point of origin is upstairs in the rear warehouse section, one in the upstairs ladies’ clothing department, and one downstairs in the side entrance of the store where the outdoor and garden section is located. It is clearly an arson fire. The battalion chief tells you that the fire will be under control in about 45 minutes, and he will release the scene shortly after that. You are aware, from local media sources, that this chain of stores has had employee relationship problems—specifically with gender inequality—and recently laid off 18 women for complaining.

Prepare a report on the details of the Novandon Discount Department Store arson fire. You should include the processing of evidence provided in the scenario and the processing of evidence found at the points of origin of the fire. This includes how and why you recorded the artefacts and the scene. You should include safety equipment and precautions you took during processing.

Explain your probable cause for getting a warrant for the scene.

Assignment Guidelines

Address the following in 5–7 pages:
What are 2 actions that can be taken pertaining to the crowd of onlookers that might help you identify the offender(s)? Explain.
What are 2 areas you would check to ensure the scene can be searched safely? Explain.
What personnel records and other business papers should you subpoena from the Novandon Discount Department Store? Explain why.
What are 3 artefacts of a fire that would indicate the heat of the fire and points of origin? Explain.
What are 2 elements of evidence you would expect to find in the scene? Explain.
How would you collect them for evidence? Explain in detail.
What is 1 method for search, other than visual, you would use to identify the presence of an accelerant? Explain the process.
What are 2 items of equipment that will be absolutely necessary to conduct the crime scene search? Explain.
Promulgate a theory, based on facts and not on emotions, on the circumstances surrounding this arson investigation. Be as creative as necessary, but support all statements accordingly.