Fire Starters..?

[~ vortex ~]

Having seen the terrible and tragic aftermath of the blaze at a fireworks factory in East Sussex on the news.. How do fire investigaters find out the cause of a such a fire or a house fire when everything is mostly destroyed?

[andy-hughes]

Fire does not travel uniformly through a building. It is more intense in some areas trhan others, and experienced fire fighters can ascertain the location of the start of a fire, and its progress. They are often able to ascertain if the fire was started deliberately, or if accelerants have been used - even though to the untrained eye, it simply looks like a charred mass of damage.

[Catso]

The two most obvious 'clues' are usually that accelerents (EG petrol) were used or that the seat of the fire is either multiple or in an inconsistent location.

For example, what could cause a fire to start just inside the front door - there's no naked flames, no electrical wiring there, so it must be deliberate.

It's surprising that even after a fire, traces of petrol or whatever can be identified, but they can.