Canadian Criminal Evidence/Model Examinations/Fire Experts

Fire Chief or Fire Marshall The fire chief or fire marshall is a member of a fire department who is trained in analysing fires and their causes. Qualification employed with a regional fire department / position of fire chief or similar duration of employment education and training relevant to analysing fires / degree, certificates, or licences received type of work that he or she does relevant to analysing fires past experience as an expert witness / whether he or she was qualified in the past Foundation of Opinion on <date>, the expert attended the scene of a fire at <location>; time of arrival state of scene and structure when arriving / whether any observable signs of ongoing fire method that the fire was extinguished whether photographs were taken / diagrams made / enter as exhibit and review with witness time of entering / inspecting the scene (may have had to wait for safety reasons) extent of examination / areas examined notable observations: possible site of origin of fire observable burn patterns on inside (e.g. floor, wall, or ceiling) or outside (e.g. walls, roof, neighbouring structures) discovered any items relevant to fire (accelerants, etc.) / seized by police Opinion Ask for an opinion with reasons for each of the following points: location of fire's origin (inside vs outside, region of origin) / anything notable about region cause of fire source of fire's oxygen (usually source from outside) whether accelerants were involved / notable signs of "spalling" (strong concentrations of burning) speed of fire's progression / manner in which it would have progressed / where fire went how the fire started / what was ignition likelihood of source being electrical malfunctioning likelihood of caused by accident or negligence such as discarded cigarettes or stove left on likelihood of purely natural causes (lightening) likelihood of a person would have started it intentionally