The Importance of Autopsy and Injury Data in the Investigation of Fires

Autopsy and injury data from victims of fire may provide the investigator with important, discriminant, scientific evidence to assist in origin and cause determination. Through the combined use of fire testing, fire modeling, and physiological modeling, the fire investigator may be able to test or further validate their origin and cause hypothesis(es), and other aspects of a fire incident based on the facts of the case and data collected during autopsy or hospital evaluation. As demonstrated in the case study, autopsy data was compared against carbon monoxide concentrations and temperature profiles for two competing origin and cause hypotheses. Only one of the fire scenarios produced toxicant doses and thermal conditions consistent with the victim’s injuries. Hence, the evaluation of autopsy data in combination with the facts of the case and dynamics of the fire assisted in origin and cause determination.