Arson Investigation: Brief History, Organizations & Terminology

This report provides an overview of arson investigation, including its history, the organizations involved, and key terminology. It begins by defining arson investigation as the analysis of fire-related incidents to determine their origin and cause, emphasizing the need for investigators to have scientific knowledge of fire. The report then briefly traces the history of arson investigation, noting the slow evolution of the concept and the 1977 Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) survey on arson indicators. It identifies key organizations such as the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), the National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI), LEAA, and the Standards Council of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Finally, the report defines essential terminology, including 'accelerant,' 'burn pattern,' 'distillation,' and 'fuel break,' providing a foundational understanding of the field.

ABOUT
• The arson investigation refers to the investigation of fire
related accidents and finding out the origin and cause of the
accident.
• In a nutshell, it is the analysis of fire related accidents or
incidents. After the fire-fighters puts out the fire, the Arson
investigators investigates and inquires to determine the
reason behind the fire or explosion.
• The arson investigators require a scientific and systematic
knowledge pertaining to the science of fire.

BRIEF HISTORY
• It evolved out of the necessity to investigate the origin and
cause behind a fire incident.
• The concept has evolved very slowly over the history and the
criminal justice professionals must study about it for deducing
their conclusion about the incidents (Firearson.com, 2018).
• The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) in
1977 had reported the results of fire investigation survey
which contained a compilation of the indicators used by arson
investigators (Leaa.org, 2018).

ORGANIZATIONS
• International Association of Arson Investigator (IAAI) founded in
1951
• National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI) in 1961
(Nafi.org, 2018)
• Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) founded in
1968
• Standards Council of the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) established in 1985 (Nfpa.org, 2018)

TERMINOLOGY
• ACCELERANT: a chemical catalyst that the Arsonists claim to
be the cause of the fire.
• BURN PATTERN: used to define carbonization from luminous
and non luminous combustion.
• DISTILLATION: a lab process which is used to recover and
analyse accelerants.
• FUEL BREAK: a natural or artificial separation between
buildings or forests which ensures that the fire-fighters are
able to combat and check the fire from spreading (Geberth
2016).

REFERENCE
• Firearson.com. (2018). History & Mission. [online] Available at:
https://www.firearson.com/About-IAAI/History-Mission.aspx [Accessed
30 Nov. 2018].
• Nafi.org. (2018). National Association of Fire Investigators - About the
Association. [online] Available at: https://www.nafi.org/about/
[Accessed 30 Nov. 2018].
• Leaa.org. (2018). LEAA – The Law Enforcement Alliance of America,
Inc.. [online] Available at: http://leaa.org/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2018].
• Nfpa.org. (2018). NFPA overview. [online] Available at:
https://www.nfpa.org/About-NFPA/NFPA-overview [Accessed 30 Nov.
2018].
• Geberth, V.J., 2016. Practical homicide investigation: Tactics,
procedures, and forensic techniques. CRC Press.

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