Fire investigation is the analysis of fire-related incidents, including assessing damage to housing through to fires in large-scale commercial properties. Investigations are launched as to the origin and cause of the fire and trends in fire development determined. This information is used to determine malicious intent, for informing insurers as to losses and critically to prevent future losses in life.
Many forensic approaches currently in use make qualitative observations which are always open to personal perception or interpretation. The aim of this ERC Proof of Concept project was to create a new quantitative forensic tool, that can withstand rigorous scientific debate and with which we can take measurement of the energy distributed by a fire after the fire has occurred. The FORCHAR tool uses one of the most common products produced by fire – charcoal - where FORCHAR transfers a quantitative measurement of light reflected from charred surfaces to provide an estimate of the energy flux received to assess the development of the fire from its potential origin and cause.
Using the FORCHAR approach we sought to engage both the forensic fire science community and to establish commercial partnerships towards improving protection in the built environment from fires. Using such connections FORCHAR has been able to:
a) develop a more complete understanding of charring rates where the FORCHAR tool has provided information that may challenge the Eurocode5 methods that are used to estimates the structural support capabilities of wooden parts in buildings if subject to fire.
b) by connecting with the fire protection industry, we have been able to not only well test the efficacy of the FORCHAR tool in post-fire forensic assessments but have been able to return information to industry to generate real socioeconomic impact. Here FORCHAR has been able to indicate that fire retardant paint (in this case Zenova FP), that can be painted on ceilings, walls, doors etc. of commercial structures or people’s homes, lowers and slows energy release during kitchen fire tests undertaken as part of FORCHAR. Via post-fire sampling and analysis of charcoals using FORCHARs newly developed forensic tool we were able to identify repeatable differences in fire behaviour and changes in patterns of fire development between control burns and rooms painted with Zenova FP fire protection paint.
Project FORCHAR has produced successful proof of concept and will continue in its development towards establishing the FORCHAR approach as a standard piece of an investigators toolkit that can be used in fire scene forensics and as we have additionally shown as a powerful research tool for fire testing purposes.
