Experiments and verifications
Can the sofa at the fire scene burn? Can a hairdryer ignite an old chimney? DBI fire investigators will answer the question based on small-scale experiments at fire scenes and verifications in the laboratory.
As part of a fire investigation, DBI’s fire investigators conduct small experiments, for example, to ascertain whether materials at the fire scene are inflammable.
This is done continuously during the work of establishing and testing hypotheses about the course of the fire.
DBI can also conduct larger-scale verifications. These are used, for example, in cases where no literature exists that can determine whether or not a hypothetical cause of fire is realistic. For example, can a hairdryer ignite an old chimney?
A verification has shown that, under the right circumstances, it actually can. By setting up large or small experiments in the laboratory, DBI can confirm or dismiss the number of possible causes of fire to be investigated in the context of a specific fire.
Verifications can also be used to investigate the reactions of materials in real-life scenarios. Laboratory experiments have revealed, for example, that materials classified as inflammable can in fact burn in more realistic scenarios. Whatever the scale of the experiment or verification, they are used to identify realistic fire scenarios.
