Methods of judicial fire technical expertise

  Methods of judicial fire technical expertise

The variety of objects of judicial fire-technical expertise determines the use in its production of a wide range of general expert methods. General expert means a method.

but used by many genera and types of forensic examinations and studies, whereas private expert methods are the methods used in forensic examinations of a single genus or species. These methods include:

- morphological analysis: optical and electron microscopy; ultrasonic and X-ray inspection;

- analysis of the elemental composition: organic elemental analysis; X-ray analysis; emission spectral analysis; laser microspectral analysis;

- analysis of molecular composition: chemical analytical methods; coulometric analysis; molecular spectroscopy in the ultraviolet, infrared and visible region; molecular fluorescence spectroscopy; chromatography (gas, gas-liquid, pyrolytic, liquid, thin layer);

- analysis of the phase composition: X-ray phase analysis, metallography, thermal analysis methods (thermal weight, thermographic and differential thermal analysis), calorimetry;

- analysis of the crystal structure: X-ray diffraction, metallographic, fractographic analysis;

- Methods for studying various properties: magnetic properties, hardness (microhardness), determination of electrical resistivity, thermal properties (determination of phase transformation temperatures, thermo-EMF, thermal conductivity, linear expansion coefficient).

In addition, they distinguish a group of special or partial expert methods, which include:

- methods for detecting focal signs of fire on materials exposed to thermal effects (wood, chipboard, concrete, brick, metals and alloys, cement-based building solutions, paint coatings, natural building materials);

- methods for experimental investigation of the fire-hazardous properties of substances and materials (temperature and concentration limits of ignition, ability to ignite under the influence of certain ignition sources or when mixed with other substances under specific conditions, etc.) 1;

- test methods for fire hazard electrical products during emergency operation (cable products, electrical protection devices, heating devices, switching devices, etc.).

A special place in the practice of production of fire-technical expertise is the modeling method: informational, graphical, real and mathematical.

Features of the appointment and production of judicial fire-technical expertise

When appointing a fire and technical expertise is important is the question of the time of its appointment. Although the need for her appointment may arise at any stage of the judicial review of a civil case, it is advisable to appoint as soon as possible. Authorized and unauthorized work to eliminate the consequences of a fire can be performed at the site of fire, important information may be lost as a result of atmospheric phenomena (rain, snow, wind, etc.) and, as noted above, expert inspection of the site of fire is important. Unfortunately, due to the insufficient number of fire and technical experts in the country, these examinations in civil cases are performed much less frequently than is required.

If a party intends to file a petition with the court for the appointment of a fire-technical examination, it is advisable to first consult with a specialist on issues submitted for expert approval and possible results of expert research, as well as providing the expert with material objects and other sources of information. By using special knowledge at this stage, it is possible to achieve the optimal (in terms of the expected result of the expert study) selection of questions that are put to the expert's resolution, taking into account the available research objects and other materials.

Issues to resolve forensic fire and technical expertise should be clear and specific. Often, as a result of a superficial examination of a fire site, when practically no material objects have been seized, all materials of the case are presented to the expert and only one question is posed: "What is the cause of the fire?" The question of the cause of the fire is generally incorrect, since it implies a legal assessment of the actions (inaction) of specific individuals. As already mentioned above, it is more accurate and more accurate to raise the question of the mechanism of the origin and development of a fire. You can not put on the resolution of the examination and questions about the presence of evidence of crime, the guilt or innocence of a particular person and the form of his guilt. Answers to these questions are beyond the scope of the expert’s competence and are given only by the investigator or the court. We explain this with an example

U. worked in the club as director and part-time stoker. There was a fire at the club. The following questions were put to the resolution of the fire-technical examination: what fire safety rules were violated and was U. guilty of violating the rules as a director or as a fireman? It is absolutely clear that in order to answer the first question one must have special knowledge in the field of fire and technical expertise, while the second is beyond the competence of the expert.

No less important for the production of expertise is the question of the quality of materials presented to the expert. We illustrate this with an example.

In the case of a fire in a house in the Ivanovo Garden Partnership, Odintsovo District, owned by E. V. Petrova, the expert was provided with an examination report of the fire site of the garden house and fragments of electrical wiring, as well as a fire report, which stated that the fire resulted from a short circuit in the wiring.

The inspection report states that "on one of the fragments of the copper wiring, flashes in the form of balls characteristic of short-circuit currents were found." Further in the protocol it is mentioned that from the wall of the garden house to the shed there is an extension cord that lies on the ground. The end of the extension cord from the side of the house was burned, there is no plug. In violation of all the rules for the inspection of the scene of an incident, a fragment of copper wiring with flushes was practically not described in the protocol. It was necessary to indicate its length, cross-section, number of cores, the state of the insulation or its absence1. The manuals on the study of metallic electric conductors with reflow indicate that such a study makes sense only if there is a plan for the object of the fire, an electrical circuit of the object indicating what elements are the seized fragments. Otherwise, the relevance of the wire fragment with flashing to the object's electrical wiring is unprovable.

The detected fragment could be part of the lighting wiring of the attic room, which is also not known from the protocol, part of the extension, just an extraneous piece of copper wire, which was used for some household purposes (for example, for fasteners). However, since the data on the characteristics of the wire fragment in the inspection report are missing, all this lies in the area of ​​assumptions and cannot be used in the proof of the case.

The person who prepared the fire report did not match the wire found in the attic room across the cross section, the number of wires, the insulation material, its color with the household extension located on the street. Therefore, the conclusion that the wire with flashing is part of the extension cord is not supported by any factual data and also belongs to the field of unwarranted assumptions.

Melting of copper conductors on a fire can occur due to a number of reasons:

- thermal action of a fire at a temperature of more than 900 ° C (spherical flows are formed, which only a specialist in metalworking can distinguish from the emergency mode in the power supply network);

- short circuit in the electrical wiring, which may occur before the start of a fire and in the process of fire development (if the insulation is lit and the wiring is live);

- increased current load, causing over-standard heating of the insulation, its ignition and ultimately also the melting of conductors and the formation of spherical flows.

Note that a short circuit or a mode of high current load that occurred before the start of a fire is not necessarily a source of ignition in a fire. You must have an appropriate fire load, ignition of which is possible in these conditions. For a definitive conclusion, it was also necessary to establish a causal link between the emergency mode and the occurrence of a fire (emergency mode and reflow could occur long before the fire occurred, the wiring failed, but that was the end of it). Based on the foregoing, the expert exercised his right granted to him in part 1 of Art. 85 of the Code of Civil Procedure, refuse to address the issues of expertise, since the materials presented at his disposal were insufficient, and the submission of additional materials is impossible.

When appointing and conducting expertise, a forensic expert does not have the right, without the knowledge of the court, to enter into personal contacts with participants in the process on matters related to the conduct of a forensic examination to independently collect materials for expert research.

To avoid doubts about the impartiality and objectivity of the forensic expert, his personal contacts with the parties, their representatives and other participants in the process should be limited to strict procedural frameworks. In civil and arbitration proceedings, the expert contacts with the parties and their representatives, only participating in court sessions, asking questions related to the subject of the expert (part 3 of article 85 GP K. p. Part 3 of article 55 LP K).

If the expert collects materials for conducting a forensic examination by contacts with the persons involved in the case, the conclusion of such an examination should subsequently be excluded from the list of evidence.

For example, the court considered a civil case for damages resulting from a fire in the country. During the trial, a judicial fire-technical examination was appointed, one of the issues of which was the question of the reason for the failure of the electrical protection apparatus, which led to a short circuit that caused a fire. However, since during the inspection, this protection device, which is a circuit breaker, was not seized and attached to the case file, the expert turned directly to the defendant, on whose premises this electrical protection device was installed. The defendant presented the expert circuit breaker, which was investigated. The expert concluded that the device was working, but the plaintiff filed a petition to declare the object unacceptable and exclude the expert’s conclusion from the list of evidence. The court granted the petition.

Independent collection of materials for fire and technical expertise is also an expert analysis of all case materials. The expert has the right to get acquainted with the case materials related to the subject matter of the examination. But these materials must be selected by the court. In the case when the submitted materials are not enough, the expert has the right to request the missing ones. But the right of an expert to get acquainted with the materials of the case is limited to the subject of examination. The expert does not have the right to substitute subjects who have appointed the examination, and to analyze the materials of the case, collecting evidence, otherwise there may be doubts about the objectivity and validity of the conclusion.

The presentation of the entire grandfather (often a multi-volume) by a fire-technical expert to a physician without specifying specific materials often occurs 1 061,14110 in those cases where there is nothing at all at the place of the fire. This forces the expert to go beyond his competence and engage in the analysis, for example, of testimony that has not yet received a court assessment, which is unacceptable. Of course, no one requires withdrawing documents from the file for presentation to the expert, but it is possible, firstly, to make copies of the documents, and secondly, to specify the sheets of the case containing the information provided to the expert. Unfortunately, in practice, such flaws are often observed in the production of fire-technical expertise, which leads to the recognition of expert opinions as inadmissible evidence.

Judicial fire-technical expertise in civil matters is carried out in the expert divisions of the State Fire Service (test fire laboratories) of the EMERCOM of Russia, the forensic institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, in non-state forensic institutions, and private experts.

Due to the variety of objects and tasks, fire and technical expertise is often appointed in a complex with forensic examinations:

- substances and materials:

- metals and alloys;

- petroleum products and fuels and lubricants;

- paint coatings;

- polymers;

- construction and technical expertise; explosive expertise;

- autotechnical expertise;

- merchandising expertise;

- economic examinations, etc. Let us give an example.

In winter, right after the New Year holidays, a two-story wooden cottage burnt down in one of the districts of the Moscow Region. The cottage was insured, so a large sum insured had to be paid to its owner by the insurance company. However, the company had doubts about the correctness of the establishment of the cause of the fire, which was the short circuit in the electrical wiring. After reviewing the fire act and examining the place of fire, the representative of the insurance company established two independent zones of maximum burnout, one of which was directly under the location of the melted conductors, and the other in the opposite wing of the house on the first floor. To clarify the mechanism for the emergence and development of a fire, a fire and technical expertise was appointed, to resolve which the customer - the insurance company - resolved the following questions:

1. Where was the seat of fire?

2. Is the part of the wooden floor located under the melted electrical wiring on the second floor of the villa, the place of initial occurrence of burning?

3. What is the cause of flashing in the electrical wiring on the second floor?

4. If the flashing is caused by an emergency mode in the power grid, when did it happen: before the fire or during the development of the fire?

5. Is it possible to ignite the floor on the second floor of the molten metal particles of electrical wiring? Was there a causal link emergency mode in the wiring and the occurrence of fire?

6. What were the ways of spreading fire from the fire, if it was on the second floor?

7. What is the mechanism of formation of focal signs on the first floor? Is there in this case several independent fires and, if so, what is their relationship?

8. Are there any traces of flammable liquids, fuels and lubricants on charred pieces of floor boards removed from the areas of greatest burning out on the second and first floors of the cottage? If so, which ones? Is there a connection between their presence at the fire site and its occurrence and development?

9. Do the results of the research of the objects show evidence of a specific arson method?

During the integrated fire and technical and metalworking expertise, it was found that a short circuit of the wiring took place, but it occurred during the development of the fire. Calculations showed that the floorboards could not catch fire from the molten metal particles of the conductors, since the distance between the wires and the floor was large, and the metal particles had time to cool down while falling to the floor. Examination revealed that both fires formed independently of each other. Traces of lighting kerosene were found on the burnout boards, similar in composition to that used by the owner of the cottage in a kerosene lamp. As a result, it was concluded: the fire arose as a result of the ignition of floor boards moistened with kerosene from an open flame source. Based on the results of the examination, the landlord filed a petition with the prosecutor’s office requesting that a criminal case be opened. The investigation of the case showed that the fire was caused by arson committed by a relative of the cottage owner. The insured amount was paid, but the company filed a recourse to the person who committed the arson.

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