Man, I love these philosophical discussions. This is what we should be doing more often (especially without the ad hominem asides!) There are serious issues in this business that need open debate, but which may ultimately end in an agreement that different approaches (pardigms) may lead to different opinions. Each of those opinions may be validly supported by observations made at a scene; one or both may be wrong and, since our analysis is historical, we may never know what ACTUALLY happened.

My opinion (not an official Government position) is that "undetermined" is a continuum. There are scenes in which the exact point where fuel and heat source first came into contact can be determined, but the circumstances that brought them together cannot be specified; so a cause may be stated, but the classification may be undetermined (say, for example, that the fire starts on the stove when oil in a pan reached its ignition temperature.) Circumstances surrounding the ignition of that oil will be needed to further expose the Classification (incendiary or accidental.) I know there are those who will argue that the circumstances cannot be considered, but I believe (again, personal) that circumstances need to be carefully and thoroughly considered. The fire occurred within a set of circumstances that may illuminate how and why ignition occurred.

I have also been to fires where the circumstances can very clearly indicate a classification, but the exact point of ignition cannot be defined. For example, an office building filled with people when a fire starts in an inaccessible void space after "unusual" electrical activity (lights flickering, computer systems malfunctioning, phones ringing with no callers on the line, etc.) Smoke is seen and smelled, but no visible fire until it breaks through the roof. The area of origin is localized and evidence of serious electrical arcing found. I can't tell you exactly which wire failed / arced or had a bad day, but I can eliminate the possibility of a human setting the fire in that area under conditions which they knew the fire should not be set. It's an accident, but I should call the cause "Undetermined." There are those fires where I cannot tell you where it started and I can't tell you how or why. These are really undetermined undetermineds (I got no idea!!) And then there are those where good, independently verifiable evidence indicates that a criminal act has occurred, but the exact cause of the fire may not be demonstrable with physical evidence (because the bad guy ignited available combustible material and took the lighter with him/ her.)

One can certainly argue that these are all "Undetermined" and that there is no difference. However, in reality, there are differences and differences in what further actions are to be taken in an effort to locate more potential evidence that could help determine the actual events. In the case of the "Undetermined Accidental" fire, perhaps reviewing electrical maintenance logs or records may reveal further clues as to the cause. Perhaps some research may reveal a cause. In the "Undetermined Incendiary", perhaps further interview will reveal circumstances, suspects or a confession as to what occurred. What resources are expended in an effort to reveal a more determinate cause may depend on where in the continuum the "Undetermined" lies. For some scenes, the evidence is gone and there may be nobody to come forward and explain proximate circumstances to provide clues. They may forever remain "Undetermined."


Steve