(fire burning)
(swooshes)
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- [Narrator] Historically, lightening-caused wildfires
burn more acres than human-caused wildfires.
In 2018, we saw a shift.
The number of human-caused wildfires
and acres burned from these fires
increased exponentially,
and they've continued to increase ever since.
Humans are now the leading cause of wildfires.
The 10-year average indicates 87 percent
of wildfires nationally are human-caused.
While many of these wildfires are accidents,
most of them can be prevented.
What can you do to help the wildfire-prevention effort?
Let's take a look at how you as a first responder
can help prevent human-caused fires
just by the actions you take
when responding to an incident.
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When you respond to the scene of a wildfire,
there's a lot to consider:
safety zones, escape routes, protecting life and property,
anchor points, resource needs,
suppression tactics, risks, and hazards.
Are you thinking about the cause of the fire?
Is it important?
Yes, it is important for all responders
to understand that you play a role
in determining fire cause.
Your actions at the scene can make or break a case.
If we know what is causing fires,
we can learn to prevent them.
If the fire was set with criminal intent, such as arson,
origin protection is key in making a solid case.
The only way to determine the cause
is through a thorough investigation,
and that investigation starts with you.
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This brings us to origin protection,
and how you as a firefighter
can help preserve vital evidence
and know key scene observations.
- Particularly the origin is important
because to solve your investigation
or your crime or figure out how it started,
if you don't protect it,
you're going to trample over evidence
that could lead to a suspect,
and/or potential cause might be hidden
because it's got buried under debris or whatever.
So it's important to protect it
so that you can solve your investigation.
- Sometimes when you arrive on-scene,
you know, you're trying to determine
where you're going to start your suppression actions,
what other resources are gonna be on-scene.
But you also need to think about
where that potential origin is,
and if it's in area where you need to get through there
and need to get around it to get to the fire,
think about the least impact
you can make on that potential origin.
Avoid heavy suppression marks.
Avoid stomping through it.
Avoid trying to use your shovel through it.
Anything that's gonna disturb that origin
is gonna make it harder to determine the cause.
- So we have to approach the investigation
with our law-enforcement hat on.
Not all of us have a law-enforcement background
or have that experience.
So if you don't, you know, get your local rangers
or other county deputies to give you a hand
or a state trooper or whoever that might be
to assist you if you really believe
that, you know, there's something malicious involved,
there's intent, and you're looking at an arson fire,
you need to bring in those law-enforcement officers
right away.
A lot of fires are accidental.
They're not meant to be malicious.
There may not be intent,
but there are some of those that fall in that category.
So it's important that, you know, we work
with our law-enforcement division,
because we typically will see a higher success rate
when we work cooperatively together on those cases.
- [Narrator] Once the general origin area
is properly protected, valuable evidence is protected.
Valuable evidence such as the ignition source
could be easily destroyed if not properly protected,
leading to an undetermined cause.
Even small items left at the scene,
paper wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles, and cans
could provide forensic evidence
that may lead to the identity of a suspect
if properly protected.
When you're responding to a fire,
add origin protection to your suppression tactics list,
along with considering anchor points and resource needs.
A component of protecting life and property
is determining fire causes
to prevent future damaging, catastrophic,
and life-threatening fires.
The only way to determine the cause
is by conducting a thorough investigation.
It is especially important
to work with qualified wildland fire investigators,
or IMVFs, on every wildfire
to determine cause and possibly the responsible party.
Wildland fire investigators have the knowledge,
skills, and tools needed to properly document the scene,
locate the point of ignition, collect evidence,
interview witnesses, and determine the cause,
which could lead to identifying the responsible party.
Fire investigators are also the ones
who will be writing the official report.
As a first responder, you have a responsibility
to note observations of the scene
and protect the origin area.
By doing so, you are doing your part in cause determination.
One step closer to determining fire cause
brings us one step closer to preventing future fires.
When you're responding to a fire,
think about protecting the origin,
especially if the wildfire is suspected to be human-caused.
- You know, sometimes it's kind of hard
to determine where the origin is,
and until you actually get into the fire scene
and start breaking down, and what we look at a lot
is the burn-pattern indicators,
you're not going to have a lot of time
to be looking at that.
You can generally see what direction the fire is moving.
If you have a large black area,
probably somewhere in that large block area,
that's your origin.
- I encourage people to protect it
by putting something on the perimeters,
and maybe not a lot, something that they can identify
and say, hey, stay out, between these two things,
but they don't need to figure out exactly where it started.
They just need to say, this is a general origin.
- So, one thing a firefighter, first responder,
has these days is generally a smartphone.
If you can snap photos
when you're coming into the scene, awesome.
Even responding, you see a car coming out that,
maybe it's the only car in the area.
Get a picture of it.
That way, you have that picture,
possibly the license plate number.
Anytime you can get photos of anything,
when you first get on the scene, that's helpful too.
What does the fire look like?
Especially if the fire investigator
isn't going to be there right away,
they get a good idea of what it looks like
when you arrived on scene.
- Some of the things that the first responders
should definitely be looking for
is sometimes evidence that is easily destroyed,
like this tire track.
Especially on a majority of our agency-type roads
that are graveled or dirt,
these soft impressions can be easily destroyed
by another tire track or a bootprint,
or even the wind or rain sometimes.
So if at all possible,
if you have tire tracks in and around the heel of the fire
or the origin of the fire,
it's really important to not only protect the black,
but those areas immediately surrounding the black.
A majority of the time,
we find a lot of evidence that's actually
outside the perimeter of the fire.
- When firefighters first arrive, as you noticed,
when we come down a road, a dirt road,
you're looking for the tire tracks, obviously,
something that might be out of place.
They may have pulled over, may have turned around,
skidded out.
Also looking for foot tracks
that probably shouldn't be there,
a gate that might be open that should be closed.
First responders, when they first arrive on-scene,
are also looking
for probably that area that's already burned, obviously.
And it might be a small area,
but it could be pretty large area.
So, think big when you're looking at protecting the origin,
because you don't know.
Could be multiple starts as well.
So we're looking at potentially having a large area.
And if you think that's the area
where the fire started,
make sure you flag it off.
Mark it somehow.
Let the other responders know that they're coming in,
that this area is marked,
what color flagging it's marked with,
or whatever you have to mark it with.
So people know to kind of stay out of that area
until investigators arrive.
- [Narrator] There's some things you can do to help
with the fire investigation.
The Incident Response Pocket Guide, or IRPG,
has a checklist for you to follow
to assist investigators with cause-determination.
In your IRPG,
you'll find the fire origin protection checklist.
This checklist provides a good outline to follow
for anyone responding to an incident.
Start by requesting a wildland fire investigator
or law-enforcement officer.
Ensure a qualified fire investigator
has been dispatched to the fire
if it is suspected to be human-caused.
The earlier they can get there,
the better for scene and evidence preservation.
Make notes of all your actions and findings.
Identify and ask the responsible party and witnesses
to remain on-scene until fire investigator arrives.
Note the name, contact information, and identification
of the reporting party.
Make en route observations.
Include things like people or vehicles' descriptions
and smoke-column color and direction.
List the first resources on-scene.
Get the name and identification of persons or vehicles
in vicinity of fire origin.
If you can't get a name, get a good description.
License plate numbers can provide
a lot of useful information.
Take weather observations,
especially note wind shifts
that change the direction the fire is burning,
which could make it a little more difficult
to identify the origin area.
Locate and protect the fire origin.
Preserve area.
Do not contaminate the area of origin or evidence
with trash or traffic.
Watch where you step.
Also keep in mind there could be multiple ignitions,
which equal multiple origin areas.
Avoid suppression impacts to the area of origin.
Use a fog nozzle.
Spray only were absolutely necessary,
and make note of any suppression actions taken.
Establish containment lines to protect the area.
Knock down the fire burning around
and outside the origin area.
Avoid the origin area itself.
Allow heavier fuels to burn down.
Instead of trying to suppress that log or burning cow pie,
leave 'em.
They shouldn't be a threat
as they were contained within the origin area.
Focus on securing the fire perimeter
until the fire investigation is complete.
Allow the fire investigators time to do their job.
Protect physical evidence.
Do not touch or remove it
unless necessary to prevent destruction.
If you do touch or move evidence,
let the fire investigator know,
and note the original location if it was moved.
If you're able to do so, take photos,
including closeup views
of the fire origin area and evidence.
Turn over all notes, information, and physical evidence
to the fire investigator or law-enforcement officer.
Make sure you follow local procedures and policy
regarding reporting of cause information.
Why is it important
to have qualified wildland fire investigators, INVFs?
- When you're looking at a potential negligent set
or criminally set, which is an intentional set fire,
you're looking at bringing in law enforcement,
and you're looking at a possible litigation action,
whether it's going to be a criminal action
or pursuing suppression costs.
For those reasons, you need somebody qualified
to be able to put the whole case together, basically,
and recording that in document
that's gonna hold up in court.
- [Narrator] Having qualified fire investigators
respond to wildfire incidents
will increase the likelihood of cost recovery,
reveal patterns to determine future fire prevention measures
in identifying potential criminal activity.
Was the ignition truly an accident
or was there negligence or criminal intent involved?
A fire investigator can help law enforcement officials
make that determination
by helping build the case through their investigation.
Wildland fire investigators
can also provide a thorough report
using the scientific method.
- That'll come up in court time and time again.
Did you follow the methodology?
Did you follow the scientific method
to come to your conclusion of what caused the fire?
- [Narrator] Fire investigators,
along with fire managers,
rely on you as a first responder and firefighter
to help with fire investigation.
Have you ever thought of becoming a fire investigator?
Or maybe you would just like to learn more.
Talk to your local wildland fire investigator
and look for training near you.
FI-110, Wildland Fire Observations
and Origin Scene Protection for First Responders
is an introductory course that teaches
sound wildland fire observation
and origin scene protection practices.
Check it out in the NWCG training catalog.
If you're interested in going further
and want to become a wildland fire investigator,
talk to your supervisor or training officer
about enrolling in FI-210,
Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Determination class
and opening a position task book.
Qualified IMVFs are in high demand.
It can be a rewarding and fun job, so consider it.
Over the past several years,
around 87 percent of all wildfires
were determined to be human-caused.
First responders play a critical role
in protecting fire origin
to help wildland fire investigators
determine the cause.
You can educate yourself
using the IRPG Fire Origin Protection Checklist,
or by attending NWCG fire-investigation courses.
Stay safe out there and do your part to prevent wildfires.
Assist in the fire investigation by making observations
and protecting the origin area.
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