Human involvement in bringing the first fuel ignited and the competent ignition source together can be with and without intent to start a fire where one should not be. Human involvement is not uniquely consistent with an incendiary fire.

An "undetermined" determination is valid when it is associated with the Fire Cause. If one of the three identifiers for Fire Cause are not able to be determined, the Fire Cause is "undetermined."

Using the reliable application of the Scientific Method to Fire Cause Classification, in my opinion, "undetermined" is meaningless and needless. The fire is either accidental or incendiary. Without any additional evidence, once a fire has occurred, you have evidence to formulate a valid hypothesis that the fire cause classification is accidental. If you find evidence of an incendiary fire, this produces two conditions. The first is that you have evidence that disproves the accidental hypothesis. The second condition is that you also have evidence that allows the formulation of a valid hypothesis that the fire is incendiary. The continued application of the SM requires an investigator to continue to look for evidence that can disprove the incendiary fire hypothesis.

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