Looking for fire clues

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 432, 14 April 1992, Page 1

Looking for fire clues

A group of firemen from around the southern central North Island sifted through ash and the charred remains of an old Raetihi house on Sunday, looking for causes of fires. The fire fighters were taking part in a course on investigating causes of fires run by Ed Buchan, station officer with the Wanganui Brigade, Mark Wilson, senior firefighter and Alex Weir. The exercise was held over three days in Raetihi, ending in the practical exercise on Sunday, held in a derelict Turnpage2

Looking for fire clues

From page 1 house owned by Willie Chan, in Seddon Street. The fires matched real incidents, sotne of which Ed Buchan had attended. One was in the main bedroom, where a woman had piled her

husband's clothes on the bed, doused them in a flammable liquid and set them alight. In another bedroom a fire had been started by children playing with matches. In the kitchen a fire was started from a food spill causing an electri-

cal short. The investigators faced a tough task in the bathroom, where a fire was started also from an electrical short, though there were no wires near the scene. Faulty wiring and poor earthing in another part of the house caused the hot water pipe to become live, and a wet rag hanging from the hot tap and touching the bath electrified the iron bath. In the final scene,

which provided the most spectacular fire, an armchair had been doused in accelerant and ignited. The smoke from this fire was so dense, when it spilled out from the windows it blocked the view of the roof, said Mr Weir. Mr Buchan said the fire fighters should be able to pinpoint the place where the fire started, which would also lead to the cause. The course was run to

provide senior brigade staff with the knowledge needed to determine the causes of fires. They would be able to determine the cause of most fires, said Mr Buchan, but still call on outside expert help when necessary. Fire fighters from the Raetihi, Ohakune, Taihape, Ratana and Bulls brigades took part in the course, including Kevin Munn who turned 40 on Saturday.