FIRE INCENDIARY ANALYSIS AND INVESTIGATION

Introduction

Fire investigations have been part of society since the golden ages . This is because investigating fires allows individuals to find out the original cause of the fire and prevent its occurrence in the future . If the fire occurred accidentally , then it may be necessary to identify likely causes and eliminate them from the market . An example is a room heater without overheating protection . On the other hand , if the fire was an incendiary fire i .e . if it was caused maliciously , then fire investigations allow individuals to capture these perpetrators

and punish them for their crimes . It should also be noted that fire investigations are imperative in public education . This is because they allow members of society to establish hazardous situations or tools and thus warn the public about it . The cost that fires can bring to the economy are enormous thus necessitating investigations (NFPA , 2001

Laws and court decisions on fire incendiary , fire analysis and fire investigations

Court decisions have affected the level of professionalism in fire analysis and fire investigations . According to the Daubert vs . Merrel Pharmaceuticals , 1993 , 509 US , 579 , the judge affirmed that the use of fire investigators within the case would only be limited to those who were reliable and relevant . Reliability in this case refers to four parameters peer review , experience , cases of errors and methodology used . According to the judge preceding over this case the fire investigators chosen for analysis had to have undergone all the latter steps . This means that the fire investigator must be approved by his fellow fire investigators before giving his /her testimony over a fire . By doing this , the judge ascertained that fire investigations would be conducted in a professional manner and in a way that would be approved by other investigators in the field (Lentini , 2001

Additionally , the judge passed that fire investigators must have due experience in the field . This means that they must have conducted fire investigations for a number of times before coming to their conclusions . By making such a proclamation , the judge was ascertaining that fire analyses will be done by competent individuals . This has affected the practice of fire investigations today because most of the individuals who take part in fire analyses must have had experience in the field . Besides this , the ruling also required that fire investigators giving expert testimony should be those ones who have recorded minimal errors in judgment and also in the administration of the investigation . Lastly , the judge wanted expert testimony only from those individuals who had utilized the right methodology for investigations . All the intricate issues about handling the scene of the crime had to be adhered to . This ruling brought on other similar rulings and has improved fire analyses and fire investigative standards in the industry

Effect of court decisions and laws on controlling an investigator 's access to the scene

The law has a substantial effect on a fire investigator 's access to the scene owing to the following . Sometimes a case may...