Vehicle Fire Investigation: Critical Part of Your Case

Jennifer Moore

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Vehicle fire investigation is an expertise that requires specialized training. Among the challenges in a vehicle fire investigation is determining cause and origin from the remaining evidence in a devastating car, motorcycle or tractor trailer fire. Often, evidence has been destroyed and it is incumbent on the trained fire investigator to make determinations based on circumstantial evidence that remains in the case. The vehicle fire expert can determine cause and origin from the "footprints" that remain of a charred vehicle. Analyzing the pattern and signature of the fire, experts can determine hot spots and the likely origin. Finding an expert in the area of vehicle fires is critical to proving your case.

Qualified experts should be thoroughly familiar with NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations and with texts such as Kirk's Fire Investigation and Lee S. Cole's Investigation of Motor Vehicle Fires.

Proper vehicle inspection requires thorough review of all of the systems that pose fire safety hazards. The vehicle and the scene must be thoroughly documented. Primary and secondary incendiary sources must be determined. Attorneys investigating vehicle fires can obtain information of the same make, model and year from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or
from the Center for Auto Safety.