The Myths of Fire Investigation

Could it be that fire investigators have pointed blame of arson on innocent bystanders by accusations involving faulty evidence? John Lentini and other arson experts claim fire investigators utilize folklores or myths that have been passed on for generations as evidence in arson cases. Lentini alleges that the reasoning behind accusations made in arson cases are “BS” (bad science) that have been made by fire investigators with little science background.

In an arson case back in 1991, Todd Willingham was accused of starting a fire that killed his three daughters. Willingham claimed he burned his hand as he was desperately trying to save his daughters and could not rescue them. Fire investigator, Doug Fogg, grew suspicious of Willingham who had previous encounters with the law. Fogg claimed the evidence at the scene of the fire revealed Willingham actually started the fire. The evidence Fogg and his crew of investigators found that held Willingham accountable for starting the fire included: crazed glass, higher temperatures, pore patterns on the floor, and a several other pieces of evidence that Lentini contradicted through the use of science.

For years crazed glass has been linked to arson, as the cracking in the glass was thought to be caused by rapid heating when using an accelerant. This was one of the rationales behind Fogg and other investigators allegations. Lentini, however, argues science reveals that the cracking in the glass is caused by rapid cooling and not rapid heating. Lentini believes that a fireman’s hose created the crazing of the glass and not an accelerant.

Next, Lentini discarded higher temperatures as a reason to believe Willingham committed arson. Fire investigators believe that higher temperatures at the scene of the fire signifies that an accelerant was used to start the fire. A test was done showing that temperatures of fire caused by an accelerant and temperature of a fire created by natural causes were the same. Lentini believes faulty evidence like this have been putting innocent people in jail for years.

The biggest piece of evidence that Fogg and his investigators found that they believe linked Willingham to the fire was irregular floor patterns. Investigators claim irregular holes in the floor are caused by an accelerant being poured on the floor. Lentini claims that this is just another piece of faulty evidence asserting that irregular floor patterns can be caused by a phenomenon called flash over. Many fire investigators believe that in order for the floor to burn, help of an accelerant is needed; however Lentini claims that this is not true. The reason is that previously fires have always been believed to burn upward, but Lentini found that fires can burn downward during flashover. Flashover occurs when a room is completely on fire and gases have no where to turn but downward . In the Willingham case, investigators believed that the accused arsonist started three separate fires because of three porous patterns on the floor; however, Lentini, disagrees with the reasoning and believes Willingham was falsely accused.

Could it be that law enforcement have been putting innocent accused arsonist to jail with flawed evidence? We will probably never know the answer to this question, but in the future it may be more logical to include science in fire investigations rather than relying on myths passed from generation to generation.