Cal Fire Law Enforcement and Investigations Division
Definition
The specialist investigative division of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responsible for wildfire origin-and-cause investigation, with peace-officer powers, across California state lands and local jurisdiction wildland fires.
Related terms
- Devil's Eye Burn Pattern
- The almond-shaped fire perimeter produced by a wind-driven wildfire, with the ignition point (heel) at the narrow end and the fire head...
- Heel of a Fire
- The narrow, closed end of a wind-driven wildfire's elliptical burn perimeter, closest to the ignition point; the investigator works from the outer...
- Ignition-Point Clustering Analysis
- A spatial statistical analysis applied to a series of suspected wildfire arson incidents, examining whether the geographic distribution of identified ignition points...
- Multiple Origin Areas
- Two or more separate, unconnected zones of fire origin in a structure, each with independent burning evidence; the strongest physical indicator of...
- Negative-Corpus Argument
- An invalid standalone conclusion in fire investigation that a fire was incendiary because no accidental cause was identified; rejected by NFPA 921...
- Pour Pattern
- A burn-through pattern in floor material or seat fabric produced by a liquid accelerant poured on the surface before ignition; produces a...
- Time-of-Day Analysis
- A statistical tool in wildfire arson investigation that compares the time-of-report distribution for suspected arson fires against confirmed accidental fires in the...
- Trailer Evidence
- A physical pathway of combustible material laid between two ignition areas in a structure arson to allow a single ignition act to...
- Undetermined Cause
- The correct fire cause classification when a fire investigator cannot identify a specific accidental cause but also has no positive physical evidence...
Explained in
- Vehicle, Wildfire and Structure Arson: Distinct PatternsThe specialist investigative division of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responsible for wildfire origin-and-cause investigation, wit...