UNIL
You are here: UNIL > Programs > Card-index course
Français | English   Print   

Card-index course

Fire and explosions II

Incendies II

Responsible Faculty: School of Criminal Justice (ESC)

Teacher(s): Olivier Delémont
Lecturer(s): -

Validity: 2009 -> 2011

No timetable defined.

Course

Autumn semester
3 hours per week
42 hours per semester

Teaching language(s): French
Public: No
Credits: 0

Objective

Thorough knowledge of the different possibilities of initiating a combustion process by constitution of a heat sources , either as smouldering combustion, fire or explosion.
Knowledge of the different explosion types and of the investigation process required by this form of event.
Knowledge of the conditions allowing the detection of fires caused by direct human intervention.
Understanding and knowledge of the use of physical traces for gathering information about the deliberate character of a fire.
Knowledge of the process for the search, the collection and packaging of fire residues on fire scene for the recovery of traces of ignitable liquids.
Introduction to the anaylsis of fire residues removed from fire scenes : sampling, separation, detection, interpretation and reporting.

Content

> Fires caused by electricity
Production, transport, distribution and transformation of electricity. The course studies the different ignition modes that could be set up following a dysfunction of electrical origin. This leads to the decription of the traces generated by such ignition modes. The search for these traces, their use in conjunction with other clues and the evaluation considering the different hypotheses of fire cause are considered and discussed.

> Incandescence, smouldering fire and glimmer
Study of incandescence either as a form of combustion or as a ignition source. The mecanisms of birth and propagation of an incandescence are studied as well as traces that are produced. Chronological issues related to the birth and propagation of incandescence are enlightened ; their importance in an investigative perspective are discussed.

> Ignition by radiative heat transfer
Thermodynamic principles governing radiative heat transfers are reminded. Their influence on the development of a fire and the ignition of secondary fires are considered. This mode of heat transfer can generate considerable chalenges for the investigation of fires of great scale as well as of more confined fires. The process of traces recognition and interpretation considering such heat transfers are considered and illustrated.

> Explosions
Presentation of the different forms of explosions. The course focuses on the study of the two modes of chimical explosions, condensed-phase explosions (explosives) and diffused-phase explosions (gas phase explosions). The mecanisms and the investigative methodology of such phenomenons are presented.

> Deliberate fires
Humane deliberate action as cause of a fire :
- Relation with the Swiss criminal law
- Typology of perpetrators
- Motivations of the arsonist
- Pyromania as a pathology
- Fire scene investigation and consideration of traces as indication of human intervention
- Physical traces as clue in the identification process of the perpetrator

> Fire residues analysis
The analysis of fire residues collected at fire scenes for the search and identification of ignitable liquids is a task frequently undertaken by forensic laboratories. The issue of search, collection, packaging and conservation of specimen is discussed in reference to the general processes of forensic science. In a further step, sampling procedures, separation, detection, identification and interpretation strategies for the analyses of such specimens are considered and explained.

Evaluation

Oral exam

Bibliography

Martin J.-C., 2008, Incendies et explosions d'atmosphère, Collection sciences forensiques, Presse polytechniques et universitaires romandes, Lausanne
DeHaan J., 2007, Kirk's Fire Investigation, 6th Edition, Brady, Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Drysdale D., 1998, An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, New York

Programme requirements

None

Unicentre - CH-1015 Lausanne - Suisse
Tél. +41 21 692 11 11
Canton de Vaud
Swiss University