Fire/Arson Investigations : Fire/Arson Investigations
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Re: High Temperature Accelerants (HTA)
Posted by: SCarman (IP Logged)
Date: May 15, 2010 10:42AM
It seems to me a thermite-incendiary comprised of metallic fuels like aluminum and magnesium would fit the HTA category.
Sir Gary, the reason you might not recognize an "HTA" is because that's a phrase coined by investigators in the Seattle Fire Department in the 1980s after a series of "unusual" fires in the Seattle area showed evidence of high temperature burning. I think the topic was mentioned on this forum because after Seattle FD first brought up the subject, investigators around the U.S. started claiming some of the fires they couldn't explain must have involved HTA mixtures. In some instances, those fire determinations seemed to be an "easy out" or perhaps more cynically, a "cop out".
The fact is that mixtures such as thermites do exist and will certainly create high temperatures.
Sir Gary, the reason you might not recognize an "HTA" is because that's a phrase coined by investigators in the Seattle Fire Department in the 1980s after a series of "unusual" fires in the Seattle area showed evidence of high temperature burning. I think the topic was mentioned on this forum because after Seattle FD first brought up the subject, investigators around the U.S. started claiming some of the fires they couldn't explain must have involved HTA mixtures. In some instances, those fire determinations seemed to be an "easy out" or perhaps more cynically, a "cop out".
The fact is that mixtures such as thermites do exist and will certainly create high temperatures.
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