Fatal Fire Crime Scenes

Question 1

Fatal Fire Scenes

Answer 1

Common method to attempt concealing, altering or destroying evidence

Question 1

What should you look at during a fatal fire scene?

Answer 1

• manner of death
• victim position, orientation, and location
• peri-mortem trauma

Question 2

Why are fatal fire scenes highly complex scenes?

Answer 2

• remains and related evidence altered by fire
• homogeneous coloration

Question 3

Potential consequences of scene recovery or documentation errors and omissions

Answer 3

• disturbance of evidence or alteration of context
• post-mortem fragmentation
• hampers biological profile estimates, trauma analysis, and past-event reconstruction

Question 4

Fire response and investigation agencies

Answer 4

• Erie International Airport Fire Department (Erie, PA)
• Franklin Township Fire Department, Station 72 (Franklin Center, PA)
• Cecil Township #3 Volunteer Fire Department (McDonald, PA)
• Montgomery County Fire Department (Waynesboro, PA)
• London Fire Department (Ontario, Canada)
• Greg Olson, Ontario (Canada) Fire Marshall
• Mercyhurst University (Erie, PA) faculty and students

Question 5

Main goals and components

Answer 5

1.) Scene processing
2.) Analysis and interpretation of heat/fire altered bone
3.) Effects on trauma analysis

Question 6

Scene processing

Answer 6

Protocols and guidelines for the recovery and documentation of fatal fire scenes
- including treatment and handling of physical evidence
- examination of current protocols and testing of newly developed ones

Question 7

Scene efficacy and efficiency

Answer 7

Maximizing data collection
- spatial, stratigraphic, and contextual data
- written and graphic documentation
- chain of custody

Maximizing detection and recovery rates
- percentage of evidentiary items recovered per time unit

Minimizing evidence alteration

Minimizing recovery times
- area processed per time unit

Maximizing integration of all scene processing tasks
- fluid information flow within and between teams, with minimal delays, inefficiencies, and information losses
- cooperation between teams, allowing to carry out all recovery components simultaneously
- prevent bottlenecks: idle task units waiting for a second team to finish their tasks
- personnel management: possibility of aid, reinforcement, etc.

Question 8

Temperature data for component 2

Answer 8

Thermal alteration

Question 9

Materials and documentation for component 3

Answer 9

Trauma analysis

Question 10

Protocol development

Answer 10

• comprehensive examination of hundreds of real fire reports in Canada (Greg Olson)
• Detect the main deficiencies and inconsistencies in current documentation protocols
• Developing, testing, and refinement of new technological and operational protocols
• efficacy and efficiency in realistic scenarios
• comparison of efficiency and efficacy of novel vs. classic protocols
• law enforcement, fire investigators, and fire responders

Question 11

Fire responder training exercises

Answer 11

• Strathroy, Ontario (Feb 2009)
• Malahide, Ontario (Sept 2009)
• Erie, PA (Oct 2009)
• Franklin Center, PA (Nov 2009)
• McDonald, PA (Nov 2009)

Real cases:
- Waynesboro, PA (Mar 2010)
- Mercyhurst University casework
- Colgan Air 3407 crash (Buffalo, NY, Feb 2000)

Question 12

Field exercises: before burning

Answer 12

• photography and videography
• spatial documentation (ex. hand drawn floor plan; stylized floor plan)
• electronic structural information forms
• placement and documentation of evidence (using an animal model from commercial food industry)
• thermocouple placement (in both structures and carcasses)

Question 13

Traditional search by fire responders and fire investigators

Answer 13

Simulated scenario briefing
- meth lab, three suspected victims, etc.
- search according to their agency’s protocols

Goals:
- comparing efficiency and efficacy
- strong/weak spots

Question 14

New protocols: line search

Answer 14

hands and knees search

Question 15

New protocols: general documentation

Answer 15

Written: introduction of simplified relational databases
- handwritten notes reduction

Photography and videography
- ability to start works immediately and independently
- bottleneck reduction and detection

Topographic information
- GPS Trimble-R8 and/or electronic total station
- same considerations than with photography teams

Best practice: EACH team member has FIRSTHAND experience in the tasks and documentation protocols of the remaining teams
- rotations training with other teams
- create and implement training sessions with this sole goal if necessary

Question 16

New protocols: excavation

Answer 16

• Establish search/excavation corridors and grid system
• progress from the periphery to the center
• move to a more archaeological (horizontal) technique upon evidence detection

Question 17

Quick excavation technique in the periphery

Answer 17

Paleontological style: “Cutting the Cake”

Question 18

New protocols: screening

Answer 18

Pre-screening in tarps
- buckets sorted by excavator and excavation unit
- one excavator– one screener
- IMMEDIATE alert upon detection of any evidence or significant element
- move to strict archaeological excavation in affected unit and surrounding ones

Question 19

New protocols: hand drawn map

Answer 19

Complement to GPS and Total Station maps
- common reference points to integrate and combine all three maps
- only significant elements, with higher level of detail
- easier to compare with photographs

Easier and more immediate interpretation of the most significant elements by analysts, law enforcement, law officials, and juries

Question 20

True/False: New protocols: recovery and documentation of physical evidence

Answer 20

True

Question 21

True/False: New protocols: complete treatment of the scene

Answer 21

True

Question 22

Efficacy original goals

Answer 22

• maximizing data collection
• maximizing detection and recovery of human remains and physical evidence
• minimizing evidence disturbance and alteration

Question 23

Efficiency original goals

Answer 23

• minimizing recovery times
• maximizing the harmonization and integration of all recovery and documentation tasks

Question 24

Efficacy: maximizing data collection

Answer 24

Spatial documentation - spatial data at three resolution levels - hand drawn, total station, and GPS - can be collected simultaneously TRIMBLE R8 can even substitute total station - Geo-correction in real time (mobile phone infrastructure) - Sub-centimeter errors with close base and optimal satellite geometry (lower than that derived from prism pole placement) - Efficient: 3-10 seconds per data point Well-defined vertical stratigraphy, but hard to document in physical profile - recognizable strata of materials, reflecting floor plans and levels - Steno and Harris laws - But strata not compacted (loose materials, hard to excavate in profile) Detecting and documenting contextual relationships - ex. bullet casing in bathtub covered by melted glass suggests placement before the window broke Position, orientation, and posture of body (ex. surprisingly well preserved)

Question 25

Efficacy: recovery rates

Answer 25

Small elements - 66-90% in situ - increase=50% over previous protocols - close to 100% in closest Mid-sized elements - tarp pre-screening increases recovery rates to 90-100% reducing screening time/effort - 85-90% of recovered in situ Bone - close to 100% in situ - including minute elements and fragments

Question 26

Efficacy: minimizing evidence alteration

Answer 26

In situ treatment - comprehensive documentation of trauma and trauma characteristics in situ - brittle and thermally altered elements - aluminum foil and/or plastic wrap covering head, hands and traumatized areas (to prevent fragment losses and minimizing alteration) - rigid boards in body bags (lifting and transporting as a block, to be processed at lab or morgue)

Question 27

Efficiency: minimizing processing times

Answer 27

- one story building: 8 hours of actual excavation time (along 1.5 days) - two story house: 1-2 additional days

Question 28

Efficiency: team imbrication and cooperation

Answer 28

Early detection and integrated documentation of elements relevant for fire investigation Trade-offs of extinction methods - rapid standard extinction method (displacement and alteration of evidence) - Mist hosing (delays recovery effort: materials still very hot or slowly combusting after 24 hours; evidence being still heat-altered during this time)