Fire Investigation in Lancashire - Case Study Example

Introduction and curriculum vitae Fire investigation requires prior knowledge and experience in the field. This is to clearly elaborate that I currently hold the post of a Watch Manager in the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS). I currently deal with all issues that pertain to fire investigation in Lancashire. I have been holding this post in the same organisation since the year 1986. Part of my roles and responsibilities entail carrying out fire investigations. (LFRS) This is more so fires that result in financial losses, those that result in serious injuries and fatalities. This also includes fires that are as a result of criminal arson. I have developed vast experience in as far as investigating fire incidences of diverse magnitudes. It is quite essential to note that I have been successful in both the service training centre and fire service statutory promotion exams. All this have played a great role in enhancing my background knowledge in as far as fire investigation is concerned. (LFRS) Description of premises The building under investigation is a building that was constructed in the year 1900. It consists of a two storey structure and is used as a family residential housing. It is imperative to note that the building is mid-terraced and is also occupied by a family. Further analysis of the building shows that traditional methods were used to construct the ground floor. (Approved document B) This is where it is made of groove boarding, tongue and timber joist. In this case, skim and plasterboard were used to under-draw the groove boarding that was placed on the upper surface of the ground floor. It is also essential to note that the ceiling on the first floor is made of timber joist. In this case, plaster and lath was used to cover the timber joist on its underside. (LFRS) The main entrance to the building is made of wooden door. This is on the ground floor of the building. It then leads to a corridor that then leads to the living room at the front yard. This building also has a footprint that measures seven by four point five metres. All the internal compartments are separated by one layer of plasterboard skim and timber fastening. The front parts of the building are made of stone while the rear and party walls are made of bricks. (Lentini, 2006) A further analysis of the building shows that the kitchen and first floor of the building are connected by a timber stair. The clockwise direction of the first floor of the building has various rooms. These include the front bedroom that is followed by the single middle bedroom and then the bathroom. All this information on the construction of the premises is quite imperative when it comes to carrying out fire investigation. (Lentini, 2006) The information is also very essential when it comes to narrowing down on factors that could have propagated the spread of the fire throughout the building. It is also important to analyse the means of lighting within the premises. This helps in fire investigation process and determining the cause of the fire. This building was supplied with electricity and gas but did not have any fire or smoke alarms installed therein. Another essential aspect relates to the fact that the family that occupied the building had a private rental agreement with the owners of the premises. (Approved document B) Type of incident This incident was reported in March the year two thousand and eight. This was on a Sunday at 18.40 hours. The information that was reported clearly indicated that the house was on fire. The report showed that the youngest daughter of the family that was staying in the house had noticed fire in the middle bedroom that is on the first floor. It is essential to note that the building did not have any smoke or fire alarms that would have easily alerted the occupants in time. (LFRS) According to the report, the daughters were evacuated to safety immediately after the fire was noticed. They were taken to the back side of the building. At that particular moment, this step was taken to avoid injury of the occupants of the building. It was also reported that one of the family member’s long time partner was sleeping in the front bedroom at the time of the incident. (Lentini, 2006) It was noted that the visitor remained sleeping until the time was she was alerted by the commotion in the building. By the time some of the family members re-entered the bedroom to rescue her, she had already been overcome by smoke. She was then dragged to safety because she could not walk on her own at that point. She was then taken to the rear part of the property at the back alley via the wooden stairs. In the process, one of the rescuers suffered burns on his hands and face. It was also noted that the visitor had inhaled a lot of smoke that chocked her. She had also suffered multiple burns on her arms and the upper torso of her face. She was later on admitted in the burns unit where she was given due care. (LFRS) The Watch Manager was informed that his services were needed at the incident at approximately 18.50 hours on the second of March. This was a Sunday. After this incident was reported, the Watch Manager who is in charge of the LFRS left immediately to the scene. Immediately the Watch Manager and fire fighting crew arrived, they noticed that the building had been severely damaged. This is considering the fact that the first floor of the building had been damaged. (Lentini, 2006) Other sections of the premises that were also noted to be severely damaged include the roof and the top storey storage. At this point the fire fighting activities were started on the burning building. Due to large volumes of smoke within the house, the property that was at the two sides of the address was also damaged. (Approved document B) Situation prior discovery The overall analysis of the situation prior to discovery of the incident shows that there were a number of people in the building. As earlier on illustrated, one of the family member’s long time partner was also in the premises. She had taken a bath at around 17.00 hours. While she was taking a bath, her partner was busy preparing tea in the kitchen. After taking her bath, she decided to watch television as a way of relaxing. She was in the front bedroom. It is essential to take note that the two were not the only people who were in the building at that time. Other family members are also reported to have been present. (LFRS) Discovery of fire The fire was reported to have been noticed on second March the year two thousand and eight. The information that was received on this particular date was that there was something in the middle bedroom on the first floor that was burning. This is in accordance to the information given to the Watch Manager by third March the year two thousand and eight. (Lentini, 2006) This information was recorded on the mentioned date in the duty diary at 09.45 hours. On hearing the information, one of the family members rushed to the room to check on the situation there. He found out that there was fire on the left corner of the room and also on the bed. There were also flames that were noticed next to the door of the same bedroom. When he noticed the fire, he knew that it would spread very fast and he therefore decided to evacuate three girls who were in the premises. (LFRS) As he rushed to rescue the girls to safety, he left the door to the middle bedroom open. On reaching outside the premises, he remembered that there was a visitor who was sleeping in the front bedroom. This bedroom was also on the first floor of the building. He therefore rushed back to rescue her. He was followed by one of the girls as he rushed back. (Approved document B) The girl however did not reach the front bedroom but remained at the staircase that leads to the first floor. On reaching the front bedroom on the first floor, he discovered that she could not walk by herself. He therefore decided to drag her to the outside. This is to the back alley that is at the rear side of the building. She was then wrapped up in a quilt and laid on a mattress to rest. (Lentini, 2006) Area where the fire started The main area where the fire started is the middle bedroom. This was on the first floor of the building. The bedroom had a wooded bunk-bed. It was also recorded that there was very high fire loading in the same room that the fire was noticed to have started. This included many bags that were used by family members to store their clothing. Some of the clothing was made of highly flammable fabrics. (Approved document B) The bags of clothing were kept on the shelves that were at the back of the middle bedroom. Some of them were also stored on the bunk-bed. Other fire loading articles that were noted in the middle bedroom included magazines, books, newspapers, computer, television and plastic toys. There was also timber furniture in the same bedroom. The middle bedroom also had a borrowed light window that was situated just next to the bunk bed. It also had a location of a gas lighter, a double socket, a unit desk and a computer base. (LFRS) Development of the fire/performance of building construction and materials The overall development of fire remains to be a very essential aspect of fire investigation process. This is considering the fact that there are various factors that play a great role towards the development of fire in any fire incidence. A further analysis of the building shows various factors that could have played a key role in propagating the development of the fire within a very short time span. An analysis of the middle bedroom where the fire was reported to have first been noticed shows that there are diverse things that could have played a role in the development of the fire. The area of deep burning to floor boards was located very closely to the socket. This area was also very near the bunk bed. (Approved document B) As earlier on illustrated, there were clothes that were stored in plastic bags on the bunk bed and on the shelves under the bunk bed. These made it very easy for the fire to develop very fast. Therefore the two plastic bags full of clothes and the bunk bed allowed the fire to spread out to the whole middle bedroom. These two bags were made of materials that are easily ignitable. In this case, the availability of combustible materials enabled the rapid development of fire in the middle bedroom. It is quite essential to note that some of these materials were stored at a height close to the ceiling. This was at approximately one point five metres. This easily allowed the fire to spread to the ceiling board. (Approved document B) The front bedroom also had variety of combustible materials stored therein. This enabled the fire to spread very fast in the front bedroom. It is very important to note that the middle bedroom also had a borrowed light window that was just next to the bunk bed. This window definitely allowed fire to spread to the master bedroom. It was also noted that the corner of bed was adjacent to the mid bed wardrobe and the borrowed light window in the room was situated right above. These proximities made fire to spread easily through the window to the adjacent room. (Approved document B) This is considering the fact that the area was full of flammable materials. The panels of the window were not gazed with fire resistant materials. The window panels measured approximately six hundred by four hundred mm. Due to the extreme heat released from the middle bedroom, the panels collapsed. (Lentini, 2006) This definitely resulted in fire spreading in a horizontal manner to the front bedroom. There were also combustible materials stored in the artic space that above the front bedroom. This also enabled the fire to spread easily to the ceiling board and then to the panels holding the roof of the house. High fire loading materials in the front bedroom were placed at a height of approximately one point five metres. It was also noted that the doors to the bedrooms were left open during the fire incidence. This made the fire to easily spread to the adjacent bedrooms without any possible hindrance. This explains the fact that smoke filled the house within a very short time span. The gas lighter on the television unit in the middle bedroom helped to propagate the fire through the borrowed light window. (Approved document B) The ceiling had an opening that was quite large. Through this opening, fire easily accessed the loft space. This was from the middle bedroom where the fire started. The pictures of the building show that there were also large quantities of combustible materials stored in the loft space. This allowed fire to spread in that entire area and to the ceiling board. Through the fire that ignited the combustible materials in the loft area, timber panels that supported the roof caught fire. As they weakened, they sagged leading to the collapsing of the roof of the house. (LFRS) Causes considered Determining the cause of fire incident can be quite a challenging task in some occurrences. This is more so in situations that are not accidental since initiators tend to destroy any possible leading traces to the causes. In other incidences, it is usually quite obvious. There are however signs that can indicate the cause(s) of a fire outbreak. An analysis of building shows various possible causes of the fire outbreak that occurred on 2nd March 2008. (Lentini, 2006) Gas defect While the building had gas as mains supply, there are unlikely possibilities that the cause of fire outbreak in premises was gas defect. This is due to various aspects that were noticed in the building before and after the fire incident. It was very clear that the middle bedroom did not have installed gas pipes. This was after removing the floor boarding in the bedroom. Some smoke that was noticed on the boiler that was in the bathroom. There were no fire burns evident on the gas metre and boiler that were situated in the bathroom. (Approved document B) Deliberate ignition There was no proven evidence that the fire was started deliberately. There was no possible evidence that someone could have used the gas lighter found in the middle bedroom to start the fire. There was also no verifiable evidence that the fire started from the gas lighter. If someone started the fire deliberately using the gas lighter, the person would have thought of a way of removing the evidence from the place where the fire started. For these reasons, deliberate ignition was unlikely to have caused the fire in the building. (Lentini, 2006) Electrical causes In order to deduce the overall cause of the fire, all electrical features of the building were analysed. There was a single socket that was noted in the middle bedroom where the fire started. On further examination of the socket, it was clear that it had a lot of soot on it. This definitely revealed that it had not been in use for a period of time. This therefore nullified the possibilities of fire started from it. (LFRS) As earlier on illustrated, fire was noticed in the middle bedroom. The bedroom had a computer therein. This shows that it would have been possible for fire to have started from the computer. However after a thorough analysis of the computer, there was no evidence that it had been connected or that it was on at the time of the incidence. This information also nullified the possibility of fire starting from the computer. Other aspects that were checked included the electrical cables. The middle bedroom was put under thorough scrutiny of cables therein. In order to ascertain this, the floor boarding in the middle bedroom was removed. This however confirmed the fact that the floor had no electrical cables fitted. This therefore showed that fire could have started from electrical cables in the middle bedroom. There was also a double socket that was noted in the middle bedroom. (Approved document B) Some of the outer parts of the socket were charred due to the external heat from fire within the room. The inner parts of the socket however remained intact. This showed that the fire in middle bedroom could not have started from the double socket. The consumer unit in the building was also examined. It was evident that a thirty amp fuse and five amp circuit had blown in the process. It was however ascertained that this emanated from high temperatures caused by the fire outbreak in the house. Accident This is the most possible cause of the fire in the house. An analysis of the building showed pieces of cigarettes on the kitchen work surface and in the tea bags. This definitely indicates that some of the family members living in premises were smokers. It was also notable that the house had small girls at the time of the incident. (Lentini, 2006) There are very high possibilities that one of the girls picked a burning cigarette end and was playing with it in the middle bedroom and this led to the fire. It is also very possible that one of the occupants carelessly disposed a nearly extinguished cigarette end in the middle bedroom leading to the fire. The fire then spread easily to other combustible materials in the room. Due to high fire loading in the room, the cigarette end could have burnt to ashes leaving no possible traces of its existence. (Approved document B) Conclusion In conclusion, the overall investigation of fire incidence at the house shows that there are various factors that played a great role in development of fire in the premises. One of the factors relate to the issue of combustible materials that were in the house at the time of the incident. Analysis of the possible causes of the fire outbreak in the building led o various deductions. First, the fire was not started by an electric defect. This is considering that there was no proof from various electrical appliances in the house. While the house was connected to a mains gas, this was unlikely to have initiated the fire. It was therefore concluded that there were very high chances that the fire was started accidentally. This is probably from a poorly disposed cigarette end either probably by children who were present in the house at the time outbreak. Pieces of cigarettes found in the house show that some of the family members were fond of smoking and children could have easily accessed them Reference: Approved document B; Fire safety buildings and regulations document Lentini, J. (2006): Scientific Protocols for Fire Investigation; London; University Press LFRS, (2008): Report on Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Read More