An electrical fire destroyed a family's home...

[celtic]

Sad story.

Fire kills parents, 2 children in Pa.

YORK, Pa. - An electrical fire destroyed a family's home early Saturday...

....

The fire was determined to be accidental, York police officer Michael Koltunovich said in a statement.
He did not specify how or where the electrical fire started.

I'm confused by this...

 

[480sparky]

That's pretty darn fast forensic work, I must say!

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

Years ago I knew of a house fire that was deemed to be electrical in nature. Turned out the house wan't even tied into the POCO.

 

[kkwong]

I think the box "electrical fire" is checked whenever they cannot determine the origin of a fire.

 

[inspector 102]

I have seen too many fires determined electrical when the cause is unknown. It is an easy out that most people will accept without much proof. I have also seen investigators sift through material to eliminate electrical causes. For the fire side, the crew hates it when you hold them on scene for investigation, but that is part of the job. I will investigate until I have a area of origin and a probable cause, then let the insurance company decide if they want to hire a cause and origin investigation. That all changes if there is an injury or death, the investigation becomes more critical to see who is going to sue whom.

 

[electricalperson]

i think its because they need someone to blame. they might of found some flying splices or bad jboxes in the basement or whatever and thought it might of been electrical without fully investigating it

 

[iaov]

I think the box "electrical fire" is checked whenever they cannot determine the origin of a fire.

Thats exactly what happens.