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Re: Undetermined Accidental?
Posted by:
dcarpenter (IP Logged)
Date: February 01, 2007 10:20AM
You are correct, it is actually "intent" that needs to be addressed in your scenario, which is difficult, at best, to determine. The mtoive is what ever is driving the need for setting the fire. A good example of why intent is difficult to determine is a smoldering cigarette fire in a sofa. Was the cigarette placed intentionally for the purpose of starting a fire? Did the person accidently and unknowingly drop a cigarette in the sofa? Or did the person accidently drop the cigarette and then knowingly leave it to see what would happen?
I assumed in Dave's scenario that there was a public and private investigator. Thus, while the private investigator may not be required to make an explicit (only inplicit) determination with respect to the question, accidental or set?, that is the charge of the public investigator. Thus, for some, this determination must be an outcome of any fire investigation.
Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com