The fuels were burned against a gypsum wallboard lining material within a compartment lined with gypsum wallboard. However, this report also demonstrated that in two tests, distinctive patterns were produced which without careful study and a full understanding of all factors which influenced the progress and growth of the fire, could easily be interpreted to indicate incorrect or multiple origins (Shanley et al. 2003). All of the early texts indicate that fire tended to rise and that a pattern may exist from this damage, but most did not use the term pattern nor did they give any guidance on what a pattern was (Rethoret 1945; Kennedy 1959; Kirk 1969). 1997; Gorbett et al. 1997; NFPA 2014; Carman 2008). Investigations Institute, Florida (USA), Hopkins R, Gorbett G, Kennedy P (2009) Fire Pattern Persistence Through Post-Flashover Compartment Fires. (2008)) noted that the lines of demarcation throughout the compartment would descend in elevation dependent on the header depth and type of opening, except the line of demarcation would descend lower in corners and ascend near ventilation openings. Many of the suppression factors would not necessarily develop new patterns that have unique characteristics. The authors would like to thank Bill Hicks for providing pictures taken during fire testing. Chapter 3, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. sill height (0.812m). The first is that the apexFootnote 1 of the V-pattern indicates an origin (Barracato 1979). For example, the location of fire department entry, the use of positive pressure ventilation and the change of ventilation upon arrival should result in fire patterns that are similar to ventilation-generated fire patterns. This type of damage was noted in the USFA study with specificity (Shanley et al. (0.91m2.1m). Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 9:2629, Crofton, MD, Tanaka T, Nakaya I, Yoshida M (1985) Full Scale Experiments for Determining the Burning Conditions to be Applied to Toxicity Tests. The researchers report negligible winds on the day of the tests. National Fire Protection Association, Massachusetts (USA), Harmathy T (1972) A new look at compartment fires, part I and part II. The compartments were 12ft by 12ft with 8ft ceiling heights (3.6m3.6m2.4m) with a single door opening 3ft by 6ft-10in. California Privacy Statement, First, during fuel-controlled conditions ventilation has been shown to cause the fire plume to lean away from the source of ventilation due to momentum flows from the inflow, thus influencing the truncated cone shape (Shanley et al. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), NFPA (2001) NFPA 921-Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation. Terms and Conditions, The first attempt at consolidating patterns was the first edition of NFPA 921, however many misconceptions had spawned up between the early 1960s and the publication of NFPA 921 (NFPA 1992). identifiable and related lines of demarcation it is important that the lines of demarcation are objectively verifiable by all experts and that a pattern is something that can be objectively identified without interpretation. Combining the definition of pattern with the current definition of fire patterns provides a better definition. Although these studies demonstrated that depth of calcination surveys assisted in the area of origin determination, neither developed a process to quickly process a fire scene. The greater the distance between the base of the plume and the surface of the wall or content surface will result in a substantially decreased heat flux to the surface (Qian and Saito 1992). The statistics can be found in Additional file 1 associated with this review paper. These white areas were similar in appearance to clean burn patterns at first glance, but were shown upon closer examination to be differentiated based on smeared, directional appearance with observable water drip marks. The most emphasis was placed on combustibles involved and openings and ventilation. The following keywords were used for the literature review, including: fire patterns, fire effects, fire investigation, arson investigation, burn patterns and burn indicators. Next, the ability to identify clusters of damage was evaluated. 2010). A substantial degree of damage is often times found directly adjacent to or opposite of window and door openings. Currently, no systematic method exists for fire investigators to identify a fire pattern. Interpretation of the causal factors for the generation of the fire patterns was next appraised. Heat fluxes to the walls inside a compartment containing an upper gas layer have been reported to range between 5 and 40kW/m2, based on varying temperatures between 200 and 600C (Tanaka et al. The damage data used by fire investigators in origin determination starts with the ability of the investigator to observe varying damage along surfaces of contents, walls, ceiling, floor and structural members. Thus, a fire investigator must have a solid grasp of the physics and variables that influence a fires development, as well as how these variables may or may not have influenced the damage outcome. Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 9:3235, Crofton, MD, Taylor R (1986) Flammable and Combustible Liquid Characteristics in Certain Types of Fires Part 2. Learn. The implication is that common furnishing items, which normally require a minimum irradiance approaching 20kW/m2 for ignition, would stand little hazard of fire involvement if placed at least 1m away from the initial source (Babrauskas 1981). It is suggested from this literature review that the overall reasoning process for evaluating fire damage for determining an area of origin consists of the following seven steps (Gorbett 2015): Identifying the value in further analysis of a surface or compartment; Identification of the varying degrees of fire damage (DOFD) along the surfaces of the compartment and contents; Identifying clusters and trends of damage (fire patterns); Interpreting the causal factors for the generation of the fire patterns; Testing the hypothetical area(s) of origin; and. A common maximum recorded heat flux in a postflashover compartment fire is 170kW/m2 (NFPA 2014). NFPA 921 (NFPA 2014) provides some generic guidance regarding the changes in visible appearance to gypsum wallboard in response to heating, but no formal scale had been proposed. The present paper establishes a review of the work done over the past 80years, which addresses the current situation of the profession in light of this recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences. However, if the fire pattern is incorrectly assigned as a plume generated pattern, then the entire origin hypothesis will most likely be incorrect (Carman 2008). Kirks three-dimensional conical shape persists today as the predominant means of evaluating the geometry of fire patterns. Twelve thermocouples were mounted in a grid array above the fuel item to capture temperatures for the duration of the tests. However, ventilation becomes one of the more prominent influences of damage when the compartment has transitioned into ventilation-controlled conditions. Thirty-nine novice raters performed an analysis of damage to a wall surface, completing 66 ratings first without the DOFD method and second, repeated rating with the new DOFD method. 1997; NFPA 2014; Gorbett et al. Average velocities of natural ventilation flows through windows have been recorded between 0.5 and 1.0m/s (1.14.4 mph) depending on the sill height and elevation of the opening within the wall (Kerber 2010; Kerber and Walton 2005; Quintiere and McCaffrey 1980). The third part of the review focuses on the possible causal factors influencing the location and magnitude of damage. The gypsum wallboard was covered with a primer and cover coats of latex paint. However, other texts of the time indicated that damage to floor was an indicator of arson (Battle and Weston 1960; Fitch and Porter 1968). 1997). These tests produced the first published data that supported fire patterns as being useful in fire investigation. Chemical changes include the decomposition/pyrolysis, dehydration, or changes in color. However, if the mud and tape are not present and the compartment transitioned to a ventilation-controlled fire, the damage around these sources of ventilation may be significant (Claflin 2014; Mealy et al. Fire and Arson Investigator Journal of the International Association of Arson Investigators 32:8184, Crofton, MD, Fitch R, Porter E (1968) Accidental or Incendiary. Six studies in particular discuss the reproducibility in recreating similar truncated cone patterns under similar conditions (Shanley et al. Some experimental work has been conducted in this area as well as predictive calculations (Jahn et al. Shanley et al. Proximity requires that the varying fire effects be within the same vicinity to each other. The same proponents of identifying pour patterns as being indicative of an ignitable liquid, also promulgated that holes in floors were indicative of ignitable liquids being used (Battle and Weston 1960; Fitch and Porter 1968; Barracato 1979; Smith 1983; Harmer et al. This review evaluates the historical and current literature on the topic, with a specific emphasis towards the research conducted over the past 80years related to fire patterns. Paper presented at the Fire and Materials Conference. Processes that identify thresholds needed for fire patterns to be identified can be better defined through experimental work or pattern recognition studies. As the smoke exits the opening, it expands in volume and rises. In all cases, ignition of a gasoline spill next to an upholstered chair was used to initiate the fire. Forensic Science International 147:4957, Boudreau J, Kwan Q, Faragher W, Denault G (1977) Arson and Arson Investigation-Survey and Assessment. Areas along the wall surfaces that were white in color directly adjacent to areas of significant soot deposition were found within this series of tests to be attributed to the oxidation of the soot from the surface (i.e. 2009-DN-BX-K232. Later the term morphed into heat shadowing, which was first defined as the effect of an object blocking the convected or radiated travel of heat and flame from its source to the particular surface material which is under examination (Kennedy and Kennedy 1985). No literature exists that defines methods on how to identify a fire pattern from a cluster of damage. (2010)). An upholstered sofa and upholstered chair were located in adjacent corners across the room from each other with a coffee table in between. 12). This was the first time that investigators were encouraged to assign some reliability to their origin conclusion, however, the authors failed to provide guidelines on how specifically to arrive at the initial origin hypothesis. In addition, they may not know where or how to obtain additional information, or how to judge the value of the information in the context of the overall decision. Because of this, the problem of using fire damage to determine how the fire developed is considered an inverse problem. However, fire investigators currently use their visual interpretation to give vague descriptions on the varying degrees of damage when reporting their findings. Carman (2008) divided the room into four quadrants and performed a survey of the attendees in an attempt to derive an error rate study of investigators. 1980; Keith and Smith 1984; King 1985; Ettling 1990). Therefore, the visual identification of color changes through the cross-sectioning of wallboard will not be further addressed. Shanley et al. There are a total of 17 fire effects listed in NFPA (2014) that serve as the base list of observations for fire investigators (Table1). (2013) also discuss findings related to the visual identification of surface damage progression to gypsum wallboard based on imposed heat fluxes. Most notably, patterns which indicated areas of intense burning but were remote from the point of origin were observed and were determined to be from ventilation effects only. The more significant issue with ventilation-generated patterns is when the compartment fire is ventilation-controlled. There has been much work towards developing methods for calculating the radiant heat transfer from a plume to secondary objects outside of the plume with varying accuracy. Paper presented at the Fire and Materials 2009 Conference. As vertical and horizontal surfaces intersect this 3-D fire plume, truncated conical shaped patterns have been shown to form (NFPA 2014). The first component evaluated is the ability to assess the varying degree of fire damage along the surfaces of the compartment and contents. Test one used only Class A fuels, while the eight remaining tests used gasoline as the first fuel ignited. 2013). The one test that deviated showed a V-pattern emanating from the floor behind the entertainment center giving the appearance that the fire origin could be interpreted to be located on or near the floor behind the entertainment center when the fire origin was to the left and along side the television inside the entertainment center (Hoffmann et al. 2013). Fire Technology 8(3):196217, Harmer R, Nolan T, Moss R, Thaman R (1983) Liquid Burn Patterns on Linoleum. forced convection, mechanical movement of smoke or spreading of contaminants), the change of ventilation upon arrival (breaking windows, opening doors, cutting holes in ceiling), and overhaul after the fire has been extinguished. 2013; Wolfe et al. No studies have been conducted specifically to evaluate these patterns, however, some characteristics of these patterns have been identified in other fire pattern studies. 2026 Plaza Dr. PO Box 8637 Benton Harbor, MI 49023 Voice: (269) 925-2200 Fax: (269) 925-2204 E-Mail: firefind@firefindings.com Despite this warning, several textbooks and journal articles discuss that an investigator can prescribe a 45min duration of burning for every 1-inch of char depth (Stickney 1984; Kennedy and Kennedy 1985; Swab 1985). Grant No. Photograph courtesy of Robert A. Corry. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington D.C. (USA), Smith F (1983) Gasoline Detection in Hardwood Parquet Flooring Six Days After Total Burnout. Each test fire resulted in damage along the wall opposite of the door opening, progressively greater in magnitude with the longer duration in full-room involvement burning. Saddle burn. Muscular strength develops and recedes over time because of necessity; one example of this is a baby learning to walk. The only method that appears to be systematized and examples provided was the truncated cone method in conjunction with the heat and flame vector analysis (Kennedy and Kennedy 1985). This misconception was dispelled in the first edition of NFPA 921 and is not prevalent within the current profession (Bieber 2014). Upper Layer-Generated Fire Pattern (fire origin was located along adjacent wall-fire test conducted at EKU by author). The authors suggested that the investigator could evaluate the items involved and the differences of flammability of combustibles along the route of travel may explain the route of travel or spread (Straeter and Crawford 1955). Investigations Institute, Florida (USA), Gorbett G, Hicks W, Kennedy P, Hopkins R (2006) Full-Scale Room Burn Pattern Study. 20). 6). Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Technology Report 828, Heskestad G (2008) Fire Plumes, Flame Height and Air Entrainment. The following statistics were accumulated while performing the literature review and summarized here for PG fire patterns. 1980). The compartment can reach a state of full-room involvement without transitioning through flashover, or become ventilation-limited and never achieve full-room involvement state (Francis and Chen 2012). This misconception persists despite the warnings from both the fire science and fire investigation communities (Shanley et al. The observable or measurable changes in or on a material as a result of exposure to fire. The conclusion reached by the researchers was that it would appear that the major conclusion which can be drawn from this study is that ventilation conditions in the early stages of a fire can cause an anomalous fire spread, thus giving a false impression as to the point of origin (Custer and Wright 1984). The fundamental items within the definition that may assist in better defining the term fire pattern is that patterns are something that happens in regular and repeated ways with characteristic features. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. 4 and 5). Consequently, Kirk can be credited as the first person to describe the damage by a fire as a geometric shape. The first reference that can be identified related to rejecting this misconception was a discussion by DeHaan (1983). National Institute of Justice, Grant # 2007-DN-BX-K240, Wood C, Simeoni A, Foley R (2012) Preliminary Results of the Effect of Carpet Pad Seams Compared to Ignitable Liquid Pours, Floor Fire Patterns in Post-Flashover Fires, Paper presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigations. 14, 4th edn. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigations. The authors stated that fire leaves its fingerprints and that each finger of flame leaves its effects and the study of these effects will help you pick the spot where it burned first (Straeter and Crawford 1955). There are a few misconceptions that have been promulgated over the years associated with V-patterns. 2006; Hicks et al. Fire investigators are instructed to visually and measurably identify these areas and lines of demarcation. Cue 4-width of base of damage is approximately the width of the fuel item and not greater than two times the width of the fuel item. Consequently, the damage expected in a fuel-controlled state is generally less-severe until the ventilation begins deteriorating, nearing the cross over to ventilation-controlled. The fire testing conducted for fire patterns has evolved with the changing definition of the term. The researchers stated that one of the objectives of their tests was to determine if burn patterns in the room were consistent with the origin or location of the external fire (Hoffmann et al. Fire Safety Science 10:641654, Riahi S, Beyler C, Hartman J (2013) Wall smoke deposition from a hot smoke layer. This can help determine the origin point. The Schroeder study (1999), however, was the first to quantify the depth of calcination and its relationship within fire investigations. This warning was strengthened over the years to say irregular, curved, or pool shaped patterns on floors and floor coverings should not be identified as resulting from ignitable liquids on the basis of observation of the shape alone (NFPA 2001). The term related also is included to permit the linkage of the lines of demarcation with progressively increasing or decreasing degrees of damage, such as flow of a hot gas into/out of a compartment. These findings were reported as only being applicable for pre-flashover fires. Surface effect is the result of the nature and material of the surface which contains the fire pattern, affecting the actual shape of the lines of demarcation displayed, or increasing The square root of height of the opening is the relevant determinant of the max velocity (Babrauskas 1980; Quintiere 1995). 2007; Hopkins et al. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Fire Investigations. A series of nine full-scale studies, funded by the National Institute of Justice, were conducted with ignitable liquid fuel spilled on carpeted and vinyl flooring with varying ventilation scenarios (Mealy et al. (1997)) reports that a damaged area of great magnitude was identified in the tests done in NISTs Large Fire Research Facility where the ventilation opening to the exterior of the compartment had access to an abundant amount of fresh air. In one of these tests it was found that other burn patterns in the flashover tests showed similar misleading patterns from asymmetric burning of a television set, with the most damage on the side away from the origin of the fire to patterns on the gypsum walls indicating a V-pattern pointing to a television stand and associated electronics (Hoffmann et al. Cox provides an example where using these two concepts demonstrated that a white area on a wall required consideration of the causal factors and contextual circumstances to adequately evaluate the damage. The second way to retrace the path of the fire towards the origin was by the use of the effects produced, which they broke down into evaluating six parts including (a) char, (b) remains and debris, (c) room temperatures, (d) sequence of shorted electric circuits, (e) sequence of sprinkler eruptions, (f) interiors of partitions and (g) adjoining properties. The test fire used for this survey was setup as a residential living room furnished with a polyurethane foam couch and loveseat, end tables and a coffee table. A survey was conducted by the National Center for Forensic Sciences (NCFS) in 2000 where 422 fire investigators revealed that only 33% held a college degree, of which only 10% were related to science or engineering (Minnich 2000). Fire Patterns (2 of 2) Analyze fire patterns within the context of all the patterns. Their example is as follows, if the investigator decides he has located a seat of fire within a radius of error of 1m, he is certain that the original seat of fire lays within an area having one metres [sic] radius (i.e. Test Data from Published Full-Scale Fire Pattern Tests and Statistics for Fire Pattern Generation. 2004). There have been a few studies performed that specifically evaluated the fire pattern creation on the floor (Putorti 2001; Mealy et al. Upper layer gases inside the compartment are driven by density differences due to their higher temperature and lower density. The changes to the wall surfaces by the owner through repairs and other possible information that may change the overall damage within the compartment need to be addressed. positive pressure ventilation). In 2003, ten full-scale test burns were performed in a ISO 9705 room 12ft by 12ft with 8ft ceiling heights (3.6m3.6m2.4m) with a primary focus on examining television sets and electronic appliances exposed to a full-scale room fire (Hoffmann et al. Straeter and Crawford (1955) text identified that the point of deepest char in the wood is likely to be the point of origin of the fire. 1. 2003). A scale ranging from 0 to 6 was developed for assigning a DOFD, with 0 indicating no visible damage and 6 indicating complete consumption. Often times the soot deposited within the room of origin will be higher in elevation with distinct lines of demarcation and thick soot deposits. As such, a subsection on testing is first presented to describe all fire pattern tests conducted, not just those evaluating the current use of the term. Alternative explanations are now commonly given when discussing penetrations through floors, including: radiant heat, furniture items, melting plastics and pre-existing openings in the floor during fully involved compartment fire (NFPA 2014) (Fig. Gottuks (1992) results were gases from the layer burning and escaping, while Wieczorek et al. The damage observed to wall, ceiling and content surfaces is an artifact of the fire dynamics for that fire. 4. As the gases rise and expand, they also begin to interact with ventilation openings. As the temperatures are higher in the room of origin it is expected that an upper layer will be affecting those surfaces higher in elevation. Photograph of a Plume-Generated Fire Pattern (fire origin was located at the base of this damage-test conducted at EKU by author). The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Most of the studies conducted on calcination are limited in their examination of gypsum wallboard variations. Each test fire was conducted for 10min, with the door opened at 5min. Fire Safety Journal 11:5375, London (UK), Beyler C (2009) Analysis of the Fire Investigation Methods and Procedures Used in the Criminal Arson Cases Against Ernest Ray Willis and Cameron Todd Willingham. location and elevation). J of Forensic Sci. Since 1992, NFPA 921 has established the de facto standard of care for the fire investigation profession, yet it lacks specific procedures for origin determination (Gorbett and Chapdelaine 2014). The first published fire pattern tests was in 1984 (Custer and Wright 1984). The first use of the term pattern was in 1969 by Kirk when discussing the normal behavior of heated gases. It was reported, many of the investigators had difficulty finding the location of the point of origin, in many cases indicating the opposite side of the room (Custer and Wright 1984). The fires that are located at the extremes of the spectrum (i.e. 2013). Custer was the first to discuss a concept of shadowing by content items and how these areas of lesser damage assisted the investigator in identifying direction of heat exposure (Custer and Wright 1984). Consequently, a new optical measurement method was developed to use with digital photographs and digital image analysis. Safety, Security And Emergency Management | Safety, Security . 2008; NFPA 2014). National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST GCR 07907, Utiskul Y, Quintiere J (2005) Generalizations on Compartment fires from Small-scale experiments for low ventilation conditions. First, a poor assumption by many of the fire investigation guides, textbooks and research was that every investigator is able to visibly assess varying DOFD equally (Shanley et al. The characteristics of damage that have been reported in the literature to assist investigators in determining the cause of the fire pattern will be evaluated here. fire patterns) in an attempt to reconstruct the fires development. Shanley et al. Standardized proficiency testing should be developed for each process developed and all users of these processes should be tested for proficiency. The damage cues evaluated for plume-generated damage included: Cue 1-loss of mass to fuel is consistent with damage to affected surface. A DOFD scale for gypsum wallboard was developed and tested based on the findings from these studies (Gorbett et al. This pattern has been associated with a fuel package that has the potential HRR to overcome the thermal inertia and start a pyrolysis reaction in the surface material, thereby creating the pattern, but insufficient energy to produce a plume which reaches any horizontal restriction above the fuel package (Hicks et al. Beyler C, Hartman J ( 2013 ) also discuss findings related rejecting! ( 3.6m3.6m2.4m ) with a single door opening 3ft by 6ft-10in thermocouples were mounted in a grid above! To rejecting this misconception was dispelled in the USFA study with specificity ( Shanley et al cases ignition. Include the decomposition/pyrolysis, dehydration, or changes in or on a material as a result exposure! Of fire Protection Association, Quincy ( USA ), however, investigators. These studies ( Gorbett et al the studies conducted on calcination are limited in their of. To determine how the fire surfaces intersect this 3-D fire plume, truncated conical shaped patterns been. 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