• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.40-48
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• 2012

Fire patterns have been used to determine the origin and cause of fires in every setting imaginable. However, it is very difficult to identify fire patterns and causes from the fire-damaged remains of a devastated structure. If someone was killed by the fire, it is possible to identify fire patterns by analyzing the Hb-CO concentration in charred bodies of deceased as well as the pace of the fire. For example, a low level of Hb-CO concentration in the charred bodies indicate a rapid fire with accelerants and the death was caused by severe heat and thick toxic fumes. However, a high level of Hb-CO concentration in the charred bodies demonstrates that the fire was slow and/or there was a flameless form of combustion. Thus, it is possible to identify fire patterns through analyzing the level of Hb-CO concentration on the dead from the fire. In this study, the Hb-CO concentration in the charred bodies was from 3 % at the case of gas burning oneself to death to 93 % at the death caused by smoldering fire.