How did they figure the switch started the fire, unless the switch plate was missing and they could see the source.http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/harding_jewelry_store_is_damag.html
Switch fire
- Thread starter satcom
- Start date
- Status
Howard Burger
Senior Member
- Location
- N of Anchrage, AK
possible answer
possible answer
I have heard (or read) that arson investigators look for certain specific burn patterns which apparently occurr at the source of a fire. I haven't a clue what they look for, but I've heard the term 'alligator pattern' regarding what wood looks like after a fire.
Assuming that there was some intelligent investigation here (and not just 'well I don't know how it started, it must have been electrical'), there may have been some indications near the switch that it was the source.
Sort of us looking at a lightly tanned neutral in a panel, and saying the load on this circuit is probably too much. Happy turkey day.
possible answer
I have heard (or read) that arson investigators look for certain specific burn patterns which apparently occurr at the source of a fire. I haven't a clue what they look for, but I've heard the term 'alligator pattern' regarding what wood looks like after a fire.
Assuming that there was some intelligent investigation here (and not just 'well I don't know how it started, it must have been electrical'), there may have been some indications near the switch that it was the source.
Sort of us looking at a lightly tanned neutral in a panel, and saying the load on this circuit is probably too much. Happy turkey day.
flyboy
Member
- Location
- Planet Earth
WAG from the news media
WAG from the news media
You can FOIL the appropriate agency (probably the fire department) in that community and get the fire investigation report. Unless it was determined to be arson, then you'll need to go to the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the incident.
Otherwise, it's just speculation and and wild guessing as to what happened. Which is what we usually get from the news media.
Happy Thanksgiving!
WAG from the news media
You can FOIL the appropriate agency (probably the fire department) in that community and get the fire investigation report. Unless it was determined to be arson, then you'll need to go to the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the incident.
Otherwise, it's just speculation and and wild guessing as to what happened. Which is what we usually get from the news media.
Happy Thanksgiving!
and 'we cant find the cause so it must have been electrical. see that switch there? yeah thats where it started'
Determining the origin using burn pattern recognition can be very accurate, an accelerant can throw a wrench into that. If the fire was not too big and didn't cause an extensive amount of damage, it could easily be determined that the origin was the switch box. This does not mean the switch itself was the cause (might be, might not). There could have been a loose high resistance connection that eventually heated the box to ignition.
....And yes every fire that does not have a definitive Cause and Origin, its obviously electrical.
....And yes every fire that does not have a definitive Cause and Origin, its obviously electrical.
Last edited:
charlietuna
Senior Member
I have worked on a few fire jobs alongside insurance investigators--they NEVER ask an electrician's opinion. And we knew the cause, and they wrote it up as being something else.
- Location
- Simi Valley, CA
If you ever want to burn a place down just take some lighter fluid and make a V pattern going out of a switch or receptacle. As long as they don't bring in the dog......
The thing is when they say electrical, they don't always clarify that with "faulty pump in fish tank" or whatever. There is a catagory for appliance fires, but if it's an electrical appliance, they tend to skip the appliance part or put it in both catagories. Fire statistics are very hard to decipher.
The thing is when they say electrical, they don't always clarify that with "faulty pump in fish tank" or whatever. There is a catagory for appliance fires, but if it's an electrical appliance, they tend to skip the appliance part or put it in both catagories. Fire statistics are very hard to decipher.
readydave8
re member
- Location
- Clarkesville, Georgia
- Occupation
- electrician
Had a similiar experience on a house I was roughing in, the firemen saw a charred wire in the area that burnt and assumed it started the fire. But the house did not yet have power to it.
The welders putting in angle iron around the chimney started the fire.
The welders putting in angle iron around the chimney started the fire.
dbuckley
Senior Member
- Location
- Canterbury, New Zealand
A couple of months ago I saw a docco on the telly about fire investigators, and they were really thorough in their investigations, and explained the whys and wherefores of what they were up to. In one case the police were convinced a bloke had burned out his homestead but the investigators found it to be an improperly tightened screw on a socket.
- Status