Detection of fire accelerants

This process involves a combination of both field work and laboratory analysis by fire investigators and chemists.

In order for a positive identification of a fire accelerant to occur both field work and laboratory analysis must take place.

Once a case is determined to be an arson, the detection of fire accelerants will hold strong evidentiary value which the prosecutor can use during the trial should someone be charged.

These are handheld electronic devices that sample the vapors at a scene and will give a reading for the concentration of hydrocarbons it is detecting.

Samples that are selected from the fire must be those that will have the highest likelihood of containing ILRs so they can ensure the laboratory results are an accurate representation of the scene.

It was found that the glass mason jars had the fastest leak rate while the nylon bags when properly heat sealed had the slowest.

[4] The leaks in these containers allow volatile ILRs to escape which will lower the chances of obtaining a positive result from that evidence.

Although this is the case all three containers are still used today by various investigators since the losses that do happen are not significant enough to affect the results if the samples are analyzed in a timely manner.

This is the point in the process where many agencies could differ in their methodology because there are multiple techniques for analyzing fire debris for the presence of ILRs.

Once the isolation is complete the volatiles are detected using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS)[1][6] which will produce a chromatogram that will be interpreted by a fire chemist.