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“The firefighters, as the first people
if, see things that often times the
investigator doesn’t. We don’t always
have the luxury of being right on the
scene while it’s happening,” Driemel
said.

The fire crew's descripton of
weather conditions, the color of
smoke and flames and whether
) people at night fires are fully clothed
or in their bed clothes help determine
Mthe circumstances surrounding a
# fire. Investigators rely on observa-
4 tions of anything out of the ordinary,
8 however, the unknown is always a
factor.

“We've had some situations where
inside the building there’s been
boobytraps — where the floor’s been
cut out. The firefighter himself never
knows what he’s going to be involved
in. Anything that’s abnormal we cer-
tainly want to know about.”

If a liquid accelerant is present,
such as gasoline, the fire behaves dif-
ferently. Descriptions of how the fire
is fought can assist investigators,
Driemel explained.

“As soon as firefighters move the
fire hoses away from an area and it
flashes back, then there’s some
reason for that happening. Often
times that can mean a liquid ac-
celerant.” :

Once a fire is suppressed, inves-
tigators start their analysis working

from the area of least amount of burn
to that of most damage, systematical-
ly eliminating possible causes.
Dremel said this systematic ap-
proach helps prevent the possibility
of overlooking something of value.

y However, fire investigation is not an
’ exact science. At times investigators
| are misled by the apparently obvious.

“An example was a fire that
originated in a chair on the main floor
. of a home,” he said. “The fire was
caused because of a cigarette that
was dropped in the cushion of the

AFTER THE BURN

CHARRED SKELETON stands in mute
testimony to work of arsonist who

set blaze in townhouses under con-
struction on Hillside Avenue. At right
is a hydrocarbon detector which
sniffs out the telftale vapors of an
accelerant. In photo below. fire in-
vestigator Daryl Driemel confers
with John Rose, manager of con-
struction services at Camosun Col-
lege after Sept. 10 fire set by a

arsonist. ;
Photos by CHUCK RUSSELL

amount of oxygen present in a room.
Driemel explained the instrument
determines if it’s safe to enter a build-
ing as well as determining if a gas is
present. However, the detector can
not determine the type of accelerant
used — that’s left to chemical
analysis of samples collected at the
scene or in some cases to the
investigator’s sense of smell.

Other tools of fire investigation in-
clude dogs trained to detect ac-
celerants. However, the cost of
training a dog makes their use im-
practical for small municipalities
such as Saanich and Victoria. Canine
investigators are being used success-
fully in New York and Washington
states. Driemel, who has observed
dogs in action, said they are an effec-
tive, additional tool.

Dogs, hydrocarbon detectors and
lab analyses aside, investigators rely
heavily on their own experience at
fire scenes. Driemel said, “I wish 10
years ago I had the experience I have
now.”

The next best thing to first-hand
experience is learning from other
investigators’ experiences. Fire in-
vestigation courses are offered
through the Justice Institute in Van-
couver and professional organiza-
tions. Driemel serves as president of
the B.C. chapter of the International
Association of Arson Investigators.

In September, the association co-
sponsored a seminar with the
Canadian Association of Fire Inves-
tigators in Nanaimo. The five-day
seminar attracted more than 90
delegates. As well as listening to
speakers, participants watched the
progress of a controlled fire through
a special viewing room at the
Nanaimo fire training ground.

Driemel said, “Watching a fire from
start to finish as opposed to coming
in after it’s completed and trying to
figure what it’s like before was an
invaluable lesson.”

chair. That chair fell over, trapping
the cushion and actualiy burning a
hole through the floor of the living
room.

“It created a tremendous fire in the
basement. It had all the appearances
of originating in the basement... .
there was very little damage
upstairs.”

At that scene investigators dug the
basement out. A lot of time is often
spent following a “red herring,”
’ Drieme!l said, but that is necessary in
order to eliminate natural and ac-
cidental causes.

“You have to keep an open mind at
all times. If you have a bias before
you get there and feel this is a set fire
you can also fall into that trap,” he
said. “Ifin fact we find something, we
y must be able to prove in court that
weve gone through a sequence of
events.”

Part of that proof is supported by
the samples collected at the fire
scene. Samples range from pieces of
rug to liquid accelerants. The latter
are not always easily detectable.

“Some items are readily detectable
and there are others that aren't.
There are some things that we can
easily detect with our powers of ob-
servation — eyes, ears and nose. We
also have hydrocarbon detectors,
which are basically tools.”

Investigators -use the detector, a
$3,000 hand-held instrument the
size of a shoe box, to sample the