When it comes to determining the cause and origin of a vehicle fire, there is a lot more evidence available than one might think at first glance. A session at the recent International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU) Seminar and Expo provided investigators with the knowledge they needed to conduct effective examinations of vehicle fire scenes.
Chris Elrod and Ian Tedder are both former fire fighters, and Tedder also worked in law enforcement. That training plus the knowledge they've honed over hundreds of investigations allowed them to provide critical information for gathering the facts following a vehicle fire.
Frequently with vehicle fires there are two scenes to be investigated – where the fire event actually occurred and where the vehicle was recovered (or taken) after the fire. The amount of time between when a vehicle is recovered and when the investigator can get to the site often works against the investigator because evidence degrades and the vehicle oxidizes from the damage, skewing the findings.
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