CFPS - Certified Fire Protection Specialist Fire Investigation Principles Questions and Answers Flashcards

Which NFPA standard is the primary guide for the origin and cause investigation of fires and explosions in the United States?

Answer: NFPA 921

NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, is the nationally recognized standard methodology for conducting fire origin and cause determinations.

According to NFPA 921, the scientific method as applied to fire investigation requires that a hypothesis be:

Answer: Testable and either supported or eliminated by available data

NFPA 921 requires that investigative hypotheses be formed and then tested against all available data, with competing hypotheses eliminated before a conclusion is reached.

In fire investigation, the 'area of origin' is defined as:

Answer: The general geographic location where the fire began

The area of origin is the general geographic location — such as a room or zone — where the fire started, which is broader than the specific point of origin.

A 'V-pattern' observed on a wall at a fire scene most commonly indicates:

Answer: A plume-generated burn pattern pointing toward the area of fire origin

V-patterns form when a fire plume rising from a burning item chars and scorches the wall above it in a characteristic 'V' shape that points toward the base of the fire.

The four elements required to complete a 'fire triangle' are heat, fuel, and:

Answer: Oxygen and a chain reaction (fire tetrahedron)

The fire tetrahedron — the modern model — adds the uninhibited chemical chain reaction to the classic fire triangle of heat, fuel, and oxygen.

Which term describes a fire cause determination that all accidental and natural causes have been eliminated, leaving only intentional human act as the explanation?

Answer: Incendiary

An incendiary fire is one intentionally set by human action; this determination is made after investigators have systematically eliminated accidental, natural, and undetermined causes.