FIRE TECHNOLOGY & ARSON

INVESTIGATION

Ryan C. Duran, RCrim, MPM

Is a chemical
reaction and rapid
oxidation of fuel
producing heat and
light.
 Fire VS Combustion
• Fire is a form of combustion or a chemical
reaction.
• Combustion is a self-sustaining chemical
reaction yielding energy of products that may
cause further reactions of the same kind (Hall
and Barbara, 1998).
 Theories of Combustion
• Fire Triangle Theory
• Fire Tetrahedron
Fire Triangle Theory
 Fire Tetrahedron

Each component of the tetrahedron

must be in place for combustion to occur.
Remove one of the three components and
combustion will not occur. If ignition has
already occurred, the fire is extinguished
when one of the components is removed
from the reaction.
 HEAT

Self
Sustaining
Chemical
Reaction
FUEL OXYGEN

Reducing Agent Oxidizing Agent

1. Oxygen (Oxidizing Agent)
Oxygen is usually present in the
surrounding air in sufficient
quantities to support
combustion. Normal air usually
contains 21% of oxygen in
enriched atmosphere.
1. Oxygen (Oxidizing Agent)
Oxidizing agents are
those materials that yield
oxygen or other oxidizing
gases during the course of a
chemical reaction. Oxidizers
are not themselves
combustible, but they
support combustion when
combined with a fuel.
 2. Fuel

Fuel is the material or substance being

oxidized or burned in the combustion
process (reducing agent).
 3. Heat
Heat is the energy component of
the fire tetrahedron. When heat
comes into contact with a fuel, the
energy supports the combustion
reaction.
 Sources of Heat
• Open Flame
• Hot Surfaces
• Sparks and Arcs
• Friction-chemical action
• Electrical energy
• Compression of gases
 4. Self-sustained Chemical Reaction
• Is a complex set of chemical reactions that
results in the rapid oxidation of fuel producing
heat, light and a variety of chemical by
products.
 Quiz 1
1. Differentiate fire from combustion in your own words.
2. What is self-sustained chemical reaction in your own
words?
3. What is the role of oxidizing agents in combustion in
your own words?
4. In the theory of fire tetrahedron, when one element is
missing fire will not occur. Give an actual scenario of
suppression on the following:
a. removal of oxygen
b. removal of fuel
c. removal of heat
 Pyrolysis defined
• Chemical process whereby fire consumes
most of the solid part of the fuel.
 The Process of Pyrolysis
• The fuel is heated until its temperature
reaches its fire point.
• Decomposition takes place – moisture in the
fuel is converted into vapor
• Decomposition produces combustible vapors
that rise to the surface of the fuel. These
combustible vapor is called as free-radicals.
• Free-radicals undergo combustion if proper
amount of oxygen is present.
 Products of Combustion
• 1. Fire Gases – gases that remains when the
product of combustion are cooled to normal
temperatures.
• 2. Flame - luminous body of a burning gas which
gets hotter and less luminous when mixed with
more oxygen.
• 3. Heat - a form of energy generated by the
transmission of some other form of energy
• 4. Smoke – product of incomplete combustion,
mixture of O, CO, CO2
 Toxic Fire Gases
1. Carbon Monoxide
Effect - may cause death by asphyxia
2. Carbon Dioxide - produced from a large volume
of fire
Effect - may cause lungs to swell due to excess
of fluid
3. Hydrogen sulfide – produced by burnt rubber,
animal meat, hair and silk (Smells like rotten egg)
Effect – may cause symptoms of poisoning;
dryness of mouth, chest pain, and respiratory
paralysis
 Toxic Fire Gases
4. Sulfur Dioxide – colorless with irritating and suffocating
odor; formed by burnt wood, rubber, wool and silk.
Effect – watery eyes and irritation to the human
respiratory tract
5. Ammonia – colorless gas with a strong pungent odor;
produced by burnt silk, wool, leathers, skin-meat, acrylic
plastic, phenol and melamine resins
6. Hydrogen chloride – produced by any plastic materials;
a colorless gas that may irritate once inhaled
7. Hydrogen Cyanide – produced by incomplete
combustion of nitrogen containing materials such as
wool, silk, urethane, polyimide and acrylics.
 Types of Flame
• According to color and completeness of
combustion:
1. Luminous – a reddish-orange in color,
deposit soot and has lower temperature.
2. Non-luminous – bluish in color, does not
deposit soot and has high temperature.
 Types of Flame
• According to burning fuel and air mixture:
1. Pre-mixed flame – example is Bunsen
burner
2. Diffusion flame – example is
oxyacetylene torch ( diffusion = dispersed /
widely spread)
 Types of Flame
• Based on smoothness:
1. Laminar – when a particle follows a
smooth path through a gaseous flame.
2. Turbulent – having unsteady, irregular
swirls and eddies.
 Methods of Heat Transfer
• Convection - by motion of a hot smoke,
gases, air and particles.
• Conduction - within a solid when one
portion of an object is heated.
• Radiation - travels through space or
materials as wave.
 Fire Development
When the four components of the
fire tetrahedron come together,
ignition occurs. For a fire to grow
beyond the first material ignited, heat
must be transmitted beyond the first
material to additional fuel packages.
 Stages of fire
• Ignition - Fuel, oxygen and heat join together in a
sustained chemical reaction. At this stage, a fire
extinguisher can control the fire.
• Growth - With the initial flame as a heat source,
additional fuel ignites. Convection and radiation
ignite more surfaces. The size of the fire increases
and the plume reaches the ceiling. Hot gases
collecting at the ceiling transfer heat, allowing all
fuels in a room to come closer to their ignition
temperature at the same time.
 Stages of fire
• Flashover - is the sudden, simultaneous
ignition of everything in a room.
• Fully Developed - Fire has spread over much if
not all the available fuel; temperatures reach
their peak, resulting in heat damage. Oxygen
is consumed rapidly.
• Decay - The fire consumes available fuel,
temperatures decrease, fire gets less intense.
 STAGES OF FIRE DEVELOPMENT
TEMPERATURE RISE

FLASH-OVER
POST FLASH-OVER

GROWTH

IGNITION

FULLY DEVELOPED DECAY

FIRE

TIME
End of Chapter 1
 Chapter Test
I. Multiple Choice
1. The following are the elements of fire, EXCEPT
a. Heat c. Flame
b. Fuel d. Oxygen
2. Which of the following is the correct definition of fire?
a. An electromagnetic energy that travels in wave
motion
b. A chemical reaction and rapid oxidation of fuel
producing heat and light
c. An energy measured in degree of temperature
d. A visible radiation created at the atomic level
such as flame produced during combustion.
3. A self-sustaining chemical reaction yielding
energy of products that may cause further reactions
of the same kind.
a. Fire c. Fuel
b. Combustion d. Heat
4. This is otherwise called as the reducing agent
a. Fire c. Fuel
b. Heat d. Oxygen
5. What do you call the fourth element in the Fire
Tetrahedron?
a. Fire c. Self-sustaining chemical reaction
b. Flame d. Self-burning flaming reaction
6. Under the DILG or PNP Law, which
government entity is responsible for the
prevention and suppression of all destructive
fires on building, houses and other structures,
forest, land transportation vehicles, aircraft, sea
transportation and equipment?
a. Bureau of Jail Management
b. Local Government
c. Bureau of Fire Protection and Public Safety
d. Fire Department
7. It is the uncontrollable impulse of a person to
burn anything.
a. Reaction c. Pyromania
b. Body Spasm d. Pyromaniac
8. A material or substance being oxidized or
burned in the combustion process.
a. Heat
b. Pyrolysis
c. Chemical fire
d. Fuel
9. Chemical process whereby fire consumes most of the
solid part of the fuel.
a. Fire c. Pyrolysis
b. Combustion d. Self-sustained chemical
reaction
10. The following steps are the process of pyrolysis.
1. The fuel is heated until its temperature reaches its fire
point.
2. Decomposition takes place – moisture in the fuel is
converted into vapor
3. Free-radicals undergo combustion if proper amount of
oxygen is present.
4. Decomposition produces combustible vapors that rise
to the surface of the fuel. These combustible vapor is
called as free-radicals.
Which is the correct order of the Pyrolysis
process?
a. 1234 c. 1243
b. 1342 d. 1432
11. The following are the products of
combustion, EXCEPT
a. Heat c. Smoke
b. Ashes d. none of this
12. Which of the following toxic gases can cause
death by asphyxia.
 a. Carbon dioxide
b. Hydrogen Cyanide
c. Carbon Monoxide
d. Ammonia
13. A gas that is produced by burnt rubber,
animal meat, hair and silk and it smells like
rotten egg.
a. Hydrogen Chloride c. Hydrogen Sulfide
b. Sulfur Dioxide d. ammonia
14. Which color of the flame do not produce
soot and has a high temperature?
a. Red c. Orange
b. Blue d. Green
15. This is the sudden, simultaneous ignition of
everything in a room.
a. Ignition c. Flash over
b. Decay d. Roll over
16. What stage of fire where fire extinguisher
can still control the fire?
a. Ignition c. Fully Developed
b. Growth d. Decay
17. When the fire consumes almost all of the
fuel and the fire gets less intense, it is said to
have undergone what stage of fire?
a. Ignition c. Fully Developed
b. Growth d. Decay
18. What stage of fire where fire extinguisher
can still suppress the fire?
a. Growth c. Flash-over
b. Ignition d. Decay
19. It is characterized as the sudden and
simultaneous consumption of all the available
fuel in the room.
a. Growth c. Flash-over
b. Fully Developed d. Decay
20. Which of the following is an example
characterized by pre-mixed fire?
a. Oxyacethylene c. Candle
b. Bunsen burner d. Matches
 Reminders: (BFP Operational
Procedures Manual)
Assign the group to report on the following:
Group 1 – Basement Fire
- Fire in High Rise building
Group 2 – Fire in Hospital Facilities with radioactive materials
- Fire in Jails/Correctional institutions
Group 3 – Fire in LPG Stations
- Fire in water vessels docked at Wharves/Piers
Group 4 – fire in vehicles, construction sites and processing plants with
radiological substances.
-Fire resulting from bomb explosion
Group 5 – fire incidental to fireworks/pytechnics explosions
- Fire resulting from plane crash outside the airport or airfield
Group 6 – Forest fire
-Vehicular fire
 EXTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES
Fire can be extinguished by removing one or two
elements of fire:
• Smothering – reducing or limiting the amount of
oxygen
• Cooling – reducing the temperature below the fire
point
• Starving – taking out fuel, which is the food of the
fire
1. NATURAL CAUSE - Involves those fires caused without direct human
intervention
Examples:

1. Lightning

2. Volcanic Eruptions
3. Earthquakes
4. Others

2. ACCIDENTAL CAUSE - Involves all those where the proven cause does
not involve a deliberated human act to ignite or
spread the fire into an area.
3. INCENDIARY FIRES - is one deliberately set under circumstances in
which the person knows that the fire should not
be set.
Arson – is a willful, malicious burning

PREDOMINATING MOTIVES OF ARSON

A. Economic Gain

B. Insurance Fraud

C. Hatred, Revenge, Jealousy

D. Public Disorder

E. Concealment of Other Crimes

F. Terrorism

4. UNDETERMINED CAUSE - whenever the cause cannot be proven.

 Fire classifications based on fuel type

Class A
Ordinary combustible materials, such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber and many plastics. They
burn with an ember and leave an ash. Extinguish by cooling the fuel to a temperature that is
below the ignition temp. Water and other extinguishing agents are effective.
Class B
Flammable liquids (burn at room temperature) and combustible liquids (require heat to
ignite). Petroleum greases, tars, oils, oil-based paints, solvents, lacquers, alcohols, and
flammable gases. High fire hazard; water may not extinguish. Extinguish by creating a barrier
between the fuel and the oxygen, such as layer of foam.
Class C
Fuels that would be A or B except that they involve energized electrical equipment. Special
techniques and agents required to extinguish, most commonly carbon dioxide or dry
chemical agents. Use of water is very dangerous because water conducts electricity.
Class D
Combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, lithium and
potassium. Most cars contain numerous such metals. Because of extremely high flame
temperatures, water can break down into hydrogen and oxygen, enhancing burning or
exploding. Extinguish with special powders based on sodium chloride or other salts; also
clean dry sand.
Class K
Fires in cooking appliances that involve combustible cooking media (vegetable or animal oils
and fats).
 HEAT
TRANSFER
• Kind of Heat Transfer

1.Conduction
2.Convection
3.Radiation
Conduction- The passage of heat energy through or within
a material because of direct contact, such as a burning
wastebasket heating a nearby couch, which ignites and
heats the drapes hanging behind, until they too burst into
flames.

Example:
Putting your hand on a stove burner. The amount of
energy transferred depends on how conductive the
material is. Metals are good conductors, so they are used
to transfer energy from the stove to the food in pots and
pans. Air is the best insulator, so good insulating products
try to trap air and not allow it to move.
Convection- The flow of fluid or gas from hot areas to cooler
areas. The heated air is less dense, and rises, while cooler air
descends. A large fire in an open area produces plume or
column of hot gas and smoke high into the air. But inside a
room, those rising gases encounter the ceiling. They travel
horizontally along the ceiling forming a thick layer of heated
air, which then moves downward.

Example:
Holding your hand over a stove burner. In meteorology, we
speak of convection predominantly as that caused by rising
currents of warm air. We refer to all other mass motions of
air as advection.
Radiation- Heat traveling via electromagnetic waves, without
objects or gases carrying it along. Radiated heat goes out in
all directions, unnoticed until it strikes an object. Burning
buildings can radiate heat to surrounding structures,
sometimes even passing through glass windows and igniting
objects inside.

Example:
Heat felt when standing away from a large fire on a calm
night. Everything that has a temperature above absolute zero
radiates energy. Radiation is not "felt" until it is absorbed by a
substance. It does not require a medium to transfer energy
through as do conduction and convection.
 END
Thank You…
Naval Fire Station
Tel.# 500 - 9404