Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer — Lesson 21

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 4th Edition

Chapter 21 — Postincident Activities

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Learning Objectives

1.Select facts about scene security.

2.Define chain of custody.

3.Distinguish between an interview and an interrogation.

(Continued)

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4.Place in order the steps of an interview.

5.Identify characteristics of an incident report.

6.Identify the common causes of fires.

Learning Objectives

(Continued)

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Learning Objectives

(Continued)

7.Select correct responses about fire growth and development.

8.Select facts about determining the point of origin for various types of fires.

9.Apply the evaluation process to the fire cause and determination task.

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Learning Objectives

10. Identify the most common sources of contamination at fire scenes.

11. Select facts about the elements of a postincident analysis and critique.

12. Conduct a postincident analysis.

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Scene Security

• Secure perimeter– Must be established– Can be same as used to define hot zone– May be established by rope or barrier tape– May be larger than usual in nonfire

emergencies

(Continued)

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Scene Security

• Fire and emergency services personnel should– Secure scene/preserve evidence– Not move or handle evidence unless

absolutely necessary– If moving is necessary, write description of

evidence and draw/sketch/photograph site

(Continued)

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Scene Security

• When law enforcement officials or fire investigators are not immediately available, property must remain under control of fire and emergency services organization until all evidence has been collected.

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Chain of Custody

• Handling and integrity of real evidence

• Denotes documentation of custody

• Must authenticate location of evidence and who had access

• Evidence must be marked/tagged/photographed

(Continued)

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Chain of Custody

• Fire department has authority to remain at a scene for a reasonable amount of time to investigate a fire

• After a fire incident– No one should be allowed to enter

premises unless accompanied– Written log of any entry should be kept

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Interview

• Gather information related to incident

• Process should be started as soon as possible during termination phase

• Should include wide range of people

• Questioning of an individual for the purpose of obtaining information related to an investigation

(Continued)

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Interview

• Nonaccusatory in nature

• Responsibility of the company officer

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Interrogation

• Formal line of questioning of an individual who is a suspect

• Accusatory in nature

• Responsibility of fire investigators/law enforcement personnel, not company officer

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Steps of an Interview

• Step 1: Introduce yourself to witness and provide proper identification.

• Step 2: Set tone of interview.

• Step 3: Positively identify person being interviewed.

• Step 4: Outline objectives of interview.

(Continued)

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Steps of an Interview

• Step 5: Be positive, professional, objective.

• Step 6: Actively listen while making eye contact.

• Step 7: Avoid talking too much.

• Step 8: Be alert to nonverbal indicators.

• Step 9: Inform interviewee that information will only be used as part of investigation.

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Incident Report

• Will become part of statistical data

• Can be used to help organization determine prevention, life-safety programs, etc.

• Must have completeness, clarity, objectivity, factuality

• Report form souces

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Fire Cause

• Circumstances, conditions, or agencies that bring together a fuel, ignition source, and oxidizer resulting in a fire or combustion explosion

(Continued)

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Fire Cause

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Five Stages of Fire Development

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Factors Affecting Fire Growth and Development

• Size, number, arrangement of ventilation openings

• Volume of compartment

• Thermal properties of compartment

• Ceiling height of compartment

• Size, composition, location of first-ignited fuel

• Availability/locations of additional fuel

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Indicators of Point of Origin

• Structure fires– Charring– Burn pattern– Swollen lightbulbs– Floor damage

(Continued)

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Indicators of Point of Origin

• Wildland fires– Spread away from point of origin due to

slope, aspect, and fuel moisture– Spread faster uphill than downhill– Spread faster with wind than against– Spread faster in fine fuels– Point of origin usually nearer heel than

head(Continued)

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• Vehicle fires — Similar to structure fires– If moving, following should be considered

–Where mechanical fires typically start–Where electrical fires usually start–Smoking materials may start fires in

upholstery– Fire in parked vehicle may have started

while moving

Indicators of Point of Origin

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Contamination

• Major concern of fire investigators when collecting physical evidence

• Can occur from many sources

• Keys to minimizing:– Good scene security– Maintenance of chain of custody– Careful monitoring

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Postincident Analysis

• Not intended to blame/punish personnel

• Intended to improve effectiveness/efficiency of responders and increase scene safety

• Two primary areas:– Strategy and tactics– Safety

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Postincident Critique

• Meeting that generally involves all participating units/agencies

• Goal to acknowledge weaknesses/strengths

• Highlights safety issues

• Final document should be distributed to interested parties in organization

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Summary

• It is the company officer’s responsibility to do everything possible to determine exact cause of fire.

• The same process of gathering information applies to all emergency incidents.

• Both the analysis and critique are used to improve the way responders operate.