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Fire Insight CsI fire Investigators By Todd O’Donoghue Fire Service Specialist Investigators recently got a chance to make up Molotov cocktails and inspect various bombmaking and incendiary devices in their latest skills maintenance training. Today’s investigators need to keep pace with the information on incendiary-making and explosives that is now easily available on the Internet and being experimented with by children and arsonists. We also need to know how incendiary fires behave, how to read a burn pattern, identify the residues that are left behind, know what common chemicals and equipment might have been used, and how to carry out scene examinations using CSI – Common Sense Investigation. These investigations will be helped by the recent introduction of the process charts held in the new compendiums on frontline appliances. Meanwhile new sophisticated equipment such as personal gas detectors makes sure we are working in an environment that is safe to breathe. While we are not quite as high-tech as some of the fancy television shows, gone are the days of needing to suggest Police take a sample from a scene based purely on our own smell of something flammable. Now we can use the new specifically designed and calibrated photo ionisation detectors to ‘sniff’ out the best area to take samples from. The latest skills maintenance road shows in Auckland, Taupo, Wellington, and Christchurch during May gave Fire Safety and Fire Risk Management staff from Wellington fire safety staff make up a Molotov cocktail. From left: Tony Nightingale, Peter Fox, Stu Law. 8 Issue No. 60 around the country a chance to learn from other specialists and experiment firsthand with the materials that are likely to be used by arsonists and bomb makers. This year there were presentations from an electrical engineer, members of the Defence Force’s bomb squad, and some of our own highly skilled experts. We came out better informed but also made our own Molotov cocktails, watched the effect of different ingredients, and examined the residues of various other incendiary devices. Rest assured, if you have a need to call us to a fire scene, the skills, knowledge, and equipment we bring make us armed and flame-gerous! Wellington bomb squad member Jez Wright shows what a simple home-made incendiary can look like.
Burn to learn Uncovering the cause of a rural fire can lead to initiatives that reduce the number of wildfires. So, investigating a rural fire takes its own set of specialist skills. A course for new wildlife investigators was held recently in Christchurch and Manager Rural Fire Christchurch, John Barnes, says it was developed for New Zealand in cooperation with the United States, Canada, and Australia wildfire agencies. “Vegetation fires can often cover a wide area making it very difficult to find indicators of the path of travel and the cause. On our courses we set fires in various types of vegetation to build up our skills. For instance we learn to read the signs that show which way the fire travelled, which helps bring us to the area of origin. Witnesses are obviously also very important to our investigations.” He says one of the most successful initiatives led to a remarkable reduction in the hundreds of fires that used to start alongside railway lines. The New Zealand Fire Service Magazine Fire Insight “We worked very closely with railway staff and rural fire authorities to bring in guidelines to cut down on fires caused by railway operations, i.e. sparks from the exhaust stack and brakes, mechanical breakdown, track repairs, and other train operations.” Marae safety taken seriously All Te Wha - nau a Apanui iwi marae on the East Coast have now been surveyed as part of the marae fire safety programme thanks to the Waihau Bay volunteers. The iwi has 13 marae from Cape Runaway to Hawai Bay. It’s the first time an iwi has had all its marae surveyed and a certificate was recently presented to the brigade by National Advisor Ma - ori, Piki Thomas, to recognise their effort. Fire in gorse has its own peculiarities and those on a recent wildfire investigation course in Christchurch learned what to look for when trying to find the cause. Ma - ori Liaison for the Bay Waikato & Eastern, Lana Ngawhika, says this engagement would not have been possible without the Waihau Bay volunteers’ iwi connections. With their help, marae doors were opened to Lana. “Together we carried out the surveys and as a result of our reports some marae are now getting quotes for hard-wired smoke detectors and sprinklers.” The visit to Wairuru marae at Raukokore near Waihau Bay. From left to right: Stuart Robertson (Waihau Bay brigade), kauma - tua Mac Eruera, Tony Walker (Waihau Bay brigade), Bill Green (Chief Fire Officer of Waihau Bay brigade). July 2010 9
Page 1 and 2: July 2010 The New Zealand Fire Serv
Page 3 and 4: Being smokefree saves lives The New
Page 5 and 6: Class A foam and within 10 minutes
Page 7: Moving to long-life smoke alarms Lo
Page 11 and 12: The Levin brigade turns out in forc
Page 13 and 14: A couple of minutes with... John Su
Page 15 and 16: 2010 Events Events Calendar Calenda

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