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Re: Undetermined Accidental?
Posted by:
Jim Mazerat (IP Logged)
Date: January 31, 2007 12:35PM
I am ready to jump in to this one and get beat up.
This is one of the reasons I do not like the classification process that is used to group the causes of fires. I am not sure but I believe the fire service, with the exception of the investigators, no longer classify the fires using that termonology. The address the source of heat to the first fuel ignited. If you think about it, their reports eliminate the possibility of this problem.
My call on the fire would be the fire originated in the area of the stove and the specific source of heat causing ignition could not be identified. I would let the reader of the report know what were the potential sources of heat that could not be eliminated and why I could not make that determination. If I had to give it a classification I would say accidental based on the fact I have eliminated all other possibilities leaving just the two accidental causes for ignition.
To address your other question I do not believe we are that far apart. In Louisiana, if I am defending a civil arson case, the burden of proof is different than on a subrogation case. In the arson case, I must prove the reason for ignition taking place beyond any other reasonable hypothesis. In the subrogation case, I need to show more likely than not this is the cause for the ignition. Why the difference I do not know. So we stand close together on the arson case but are far apart on the subrogation. On the case you suggested I believe the public investigator could use the same terminology to call it accidental. If there are only two possible hypotheses remaining and but are accidental then there can be a classification without know which was the source of ignition.