Recently, I have encountered a number of fire investigations where unreliable indicators are used as the basis for an origin determination. The most frequent indicators have been the presence of a "v-pattern" and the area of greatest damage.

Individually, is it well-known that the presence fo a "v-pattern" and the area of greatest damage are scientifically unreliable indicators of the area of fire origin. The common response is an acknowledgement that while individually this may be true, it is only one factor that was considered in arriving at the area of origin determination. The problem is that if you take these unreliable indicators away, there is no other evidence to support a reliable determination of the area of fire origin.

So individually, these indicators are unreliable, but if one combines them in the "totality of the evidence," it is somehow now deemed to be reliable? The frequency of this response was surprising and I wondered if this has been taught to fire investigators as a means to circumvent the reliability issue of such indicators. Anyone have any experience with this as a part of their education and training?

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