Forensic Fire Death Class Brings New Understanding to Investigators
A unique program in Texas is allowing fire investigators to better understand fire deaths.
The Collin County Fire & Arson Investigators Association, headed up by Wylie Fire Rescue Fire Marshal and Deputy Fire Chief Steve Seddig, has sponsored one of only two fire death investigation courses in the country that use human case studies. It was made possible by property access and logistical support at the Sam Houston State University Center for Biological Field Studies (CBFS). The Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Facility (STAFS) and other professional and academic leaders provided lectures and research.
Seddig participated in a similar course in 2014. Offered in California, it provided valuable information, but he feared that its $1,200-per-seat price tag put it out of the reach of smaller jurisdictions. This year’s course, for which a lower fee was charged, was attended by 62 fire marshals, investigators, and attorneys from agencies across the country, including Arkansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to the small agencies, representatives from the Texas Rangers, the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the federal Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took part.
Seddig’s interest in contributing to the conversation about fine-tuning forensic fire investigation sharpened in 2011 with the release of the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s (TFSC) report on Ernest Willis and Cameron Todd Willingham. This report reviewed the cases of Willis and Willingham, both of whom were sentenced to death based on virtually identical assumptions, findings, and conclusions by the State of Texas and local arson investigators in 1986 and 1992 respectively. Both men were accused and convicted of setting fire to houses, resulting in fatalities. Willingham was put to death by lethal injection in 2004; Willis’ case was dismissed in 2004.
“Elements of that report made the hair on the back of my neck stand up,” Seddig said of the TFSC’s findings of the two convicted men. “It made me want to change things if I was capable.”
The report highlighted perceived “gaps in understanding” between fire scientists and fire investigators. Seddig and the other members of his group have taken steps to bridge that gap.
The week-long course was about 60% classroom instruction, including basic fire science, chemistry basics, and forensic anthropology, and culminated in presentations by class members. Three 12-by-12-foot rooms and three outdoor crime scenes were set up and outfitted with human cadavers. Thermocouple trees in the rooms at different heights captured heat data during the fires. Inside the burn chambers, furnishings-king-size bed, end tables, newspapers–were placed, and the doorways and windows were in identical places. Each body had 13 thermocouples in various positions to relay information to a data logger, including heat data and exposure time data for human cadavers and in the vicinity around the scene. The one variable, within the rooms, was the fire area of origin.
Another unique and important feature of the class was its research element. Class members witnessed a live fire where a human subject was placed 10 feet away from a demo burn room in a lounge chair. The demo room was essentially open on one side and had a furniture layout similar to a typical hotel room. The room was then intentionally set on fire, and class members witnessed firsthand how a body is affected by extreme heat. “Everybody got to see the effects of this radiant heat coming out of the burn cell. Now they have a better understanding of how the body reacts to that kind of thermal insult,” Seddig said.
After the demo, they viewed an autopsy of the body and had the opportunity to see through the medical examiner’s eyes what they were looking for and how to go about collecting that information from a body that has been a exposed to thermal insult.
Also, in another research element, the 62 students, in teams of 10, had 30 minutes to view their burn, pre-burn and pre-crime scenes. They were allowed to take measurements, note the condition of the paint on walls and furnishings and other observations. Then, after students returned to the classroom, crime scenes were created, and the fire was set and allowed to burn for 4.5 minutes post-flashover. The next day, teams began their post-fire crime-scene investigation.
The final day of the course, the teams gave their fellow class members presentations on the six different scenarios. In addition to discovering the method of death, they had also been challenged to locate the origin of the blaze, utilizing a technique called gridding the room. This method of investigation, not in widespread use, had been covered in a lecture and in the field portion of the course. In this technique, instruments are used to conduct a probe survey of the drywall, and the depth of calcination is measured. “It definitively identified the area of origin in all three cases,” Seddig said, adding that one participant who had been a fire marshal for 30 years said it “changed his opinion.”
“The guys who worked the burn chambers all got it right,” Seddig said. “They nailed it utilizing the gridding method. I was betting that somebody would be wrong, but they were all right–30 men and women!”
In addition to adding to the body of research information, this new training increases fire marshals’ comfort level when dealing with a fatality crime scene. “Now we are confident that part of our job is to process the scene as completely as possible, including the body,” Seddig noted. “Before, we relied on the medical examiner, rather than our own judgment, to tell us how a person died. Now, we’ll process the scene, rule out weapons and obvious injuries; we’ve studied the effects of fire on the human body and can recognize telltale signs that we were not aware of before.”
Students evaluated the course after its conclusion, and their comments were extremely positive. “This was an excellent course all around, probably one of the best I have ever attended,” one said. “The human cadavers being used in the course was invaluable. This is the best training for real-world scenarios. Every fire investigator tasked with investigating fatality fires should be required to attend a course of this nature.”
Seddig stressed the importance of Sam Houston State University’s cooperation and support. “This would not have been possible without access to SHSU’s facilities and partnership,” he said. “We looked at two other locations in Texas in 2015, and these facilities did not see the value in this type of a program. This program almost did not happen for want of a suitable location. CBFS provided the answer, as part of its commitment to cross-disciplinary scientific discovery and education.
“Also, we were not charged for the use of this resource, again helping us deliver this training to folks who may never have a chance to get this caliber of training if all costs are transferred to class members.”
The course has been approved for September of 2016. To participate, download the packet at http://tinyurl.com/oeb2ys9 or contact Seddig at [email protected].
JUDY TRUESDELL is a communications specialist in the City of Wylie, Texas public information office.
