How does learning the way a fire grew help in CSI?

How does learning the way a fire grew help in CSI?

Richard Saferstein (Former Chief Forensic Scientist) gives expert video advice on: How does a fire ignite?; How does learning where the fire originated help in CSI?; How does a fire grow? and more...

Fire investigations obviously begins at the scene of the fire. It's important that the investigators locate the point of origin of the fire, because it's at that point where you will expect to find an accelerant, and that is what we are looking for in the forensic laboratory, something that contributed to the start of the fire, like gasoline, kerosene or some other hydrocarbon. What an arson investigator is trained to do is to look for the point of origin, which is the closest to lowest point that shows the most intense burning or charring at the scene of the fire, because it's at that point that you would expect to find the point of origin. And it's at that point that collections would be made and brought back to the laboratory where they will be looked at for the present of accelerants, kerosene, gasoline, etc.