FIREHOUSE Fire Trail

where there is smoke there is

fire

and where there is

fire

there is a cause after the firefighting stops the search for answers continues okay so you are saying that the liquid did not actually contact the ground lie Baltimore Maryland Bureau of Fire Investigation human hounds with a nose for arson and a promise to uncover the truth something different happened than what the occupant tells us the lie catchers when it comes to tracking a fire every day is open season Arsen a fire that was intentionally started in 1996 Nearly two million fires were reported in the United States Nearly 100,000 fires and more than 500 deaths were attributed to arson in Baltimore 50% of investigated fires are classified as arson members of fib the fire Investigation Bureau make the call Like fire investigation I like the work I enjoy, it's different than being in a company, the glory goes away, you don't rescue people, you don't run to burning buildings and put out the fire, but now you find yourself in something that is a challenge because when no one else can find out what caused this fire. that's your job.

I've had an investigation where I really had to put all my skills, let's say, to work because it's the arsonists against us and if the arsonist is smarter than us, I can't stand it, I have to do it to defeat the arsonist. you have to go in there and dig through the rubble and take it out piece by piece or maybe even reconstruct the scene and figure out how it started and why it started. There's a challenge for every fire within a stone's throw of the Baltimore skyline. 8 investigators have been based upstairs at the Old Town Fire Station for 30 years.

Captain John Griffith has been on staff working on one of the two daily boats. Each shift is covered by a two-man rotation. One investigator takes the west side of the city and the other the east. the call designates whether an incident is a one-two-four-three-alarm fire a one-alarm fire sends four engines two trucks and a battalion chief for each additional alarm two more engines and one truck are sent even a one-alarm fire may merit a call to lie if the shooting was in the field the circumstances are unusual an explosion in the basement of a family home is one of those cases captain of the participation office Griffith was shopping my fiancée my poor children were in the house The moment I came down the street I saw the fire trucks.

I came the other way. I noticed that the door to my house is open. I park my car on the corner and just continue here beyond seeing their bodies. On the other side, no one is hurt. The only thing missing is a dog that is there. about that if ib9 responding fifteen minutes 88 the fire complained avalanche stage check it out something was boom in my career I would say that I have always been very lucky to determine that cause about intense fire I will not leave until I am absolutely sure and I will not give up until So naturally you're sure there's something the investigators will have to check and I guess they might respond that you want a small fire in the basement down there.

The John 51 engines there first are fine, I just moved, that's all. to the raid they had just moved all the boxes and everything they were working there putting things together I went in there with five beers here this is broken it has a smell flammable liquid stripper which is a stripper which is highly flammable this broke as a result of what away, we have something here, maybe a battery, the female occupant across the street is getting ready to remove her biomedical unit, okay and she said she was standing here using spray paint, huh, talk to her when it comes out. from here yes I will yes I'm going to talk to her right now who's in charge down here I believe everything thank you I have a pretty good idea of ​​what happened but I always like to hear it from the occupant can you tell me what she was doing? cleaning the kitchen table to feed my kids dinner and I was taking things we bought, then you put a cabinet and a remover with which you have to remove the old paint.

I took him downstairs and he had the battery from his Jeep and some powerful little jeeps that the kids ride together because of all the red robberies and I dropped the battery and the paint can exploded and it went over me and then I put my head up but it burned me the eyes the bank janitor the stripper the pink the pink My eyes were burning, so I went in there, they're upstairs and I wiped my face real quick and then I looked, she screamed, mom fires, she took two steps up, I grabbed her and the druggies the rest of the way, okay, and I grabbed the other three kids. and this and you say when you drop the battery in a can of paint so that the big paint gets stronger, yes this big thing or did you drop it in the can, I don't know, I didn't turn the lavas and then I turned my El basement, although the doors started spraying, it's okay, you don't want to go to the hospital, I'm just staying with my family, it's okay, she had one, go to the hospital, it's okay, I heard this story, we listen to what they say and then we form our own claim.

I'll tell you what that didn't really happen, so we had to make up our own. The occupant The paint actually flew onto her body. Her face and her arms. It's possible that she came down and I was trying to put out the fire. the cans exploded and that's what sprayed the paint the battery that fell on a paint can will not cause a fire the parents try to protect the children if they feel the children may have caused the fire they will try to take the blame The woman appears to be quite sincere. They don't believe we intentionally started a fire, but I think maybe something different happened than what the occupant is telling us right now.

Generally, people when they have a fire think they are going to do it. They are to blame and many times they think that we are going to make them pay because they are putting out the fire, which is not the case. You spoke to the Yamuna lady, what did she tell you that one of the children was there? down a girl Sarah yes, yes, oh, you're okay, sir. car we had a fire in a basement yes sir and her fiancé is telling us that the battery fell out. I'm a red battery in a spray paint can if it exploded but that doesn't make sense okay we found a stripper can but that had exploded we feel like the big red battery falling out of a spray can won't cause a fire now a little girl was down here named Sarah car yeah that's some kind of daughter she was here alone we might want to talk to her later after all so have you had any problems playing with men?

No sir, she knows. She doesn't hug a lighter. We don't even have matches in the house. But what bothers me is that she was here alone. and maybe she would know, if you talked to the girl and saw what she can do, she's fine, or her fiancee, she's fine, and no one's going to get in trouble, exactly, she's fine. I know everyone is upset right now, yes sir, and we want to make sure everyone is okay. and our people will check your self, well, you don't believe the first story because we get some strange stories, like lightning coming through birds carrying cigarettes through the door and things like that, so you listen, you listen very politely, but You then have to form your own opinion, but before an investigator's opinion can be included in a lie report, it must be supported by strong evidence.

A few days later, Captain Griffith returns to the scene to continue his investigation. This time the occupant mentions problems with the water boiler. a detail that led Griff to reexamine and conclude that the boiler ignited the paint fumes and caused the fire at 1:30 a.m. Engine 13 is called to an elegant multi-unit building in West Baltimore. There is a fire in the apartment on the top floor. fiercely in a closet engine six also responds also John Griffith good morning we have a fire in the closet it seems please put it out so all the shelves are gone there is no power line in the door we have seen the level of burning from up here In the part top of the door, the door indicates that it was open due to the inside frame being burned.

Usually when the door is closed this would have been protected. Also, the height of the fire indicates approximately three feet from the ground traveling upward, we'll talk about it. Let's see what they have to say, good morning, I'm Captain Griffith, I'm going to investigate. You lived in the third program, what happened? Lopez, I was in the bedroom, he was, all I know is that he came running. down saying those burning cupboards catch water, yeah, and that's what we tried two or three times to do that and it was fine, then you were trying to put out the fire, yeah, and it went out and it was fine, it's like there was a bunch of plastic CDs and stuff in the back and milk crates and the flame came back on and that's where you saw the fire on the floor of mine.

It had just started out like their hanging clothes had caught fire, yeah, okay, I really know that there were CDs and all those plastic things stacked that high, okay, well, what happened is just to serve what happened in that closet. You have a guy here, I don't know for sure, but I think there was a lamp, the lamp, but I'm not there. Sure the light is on the father, but yeah, that's all we can think of, well, Jake is like, I mean, light in the closet, it's just a life that I turned on, I don't know if it was on a shelf , I was on the floor. with the lamp with the chain on and the times we hang ourselves it's the wet floor type just a small floor lamp is fine and what happened he turned on something in the closet he said something far away in the closet I don't know I just guess it was that I went to turn it on and it didn't turn on so I was in the kitchen to look for a light bulb and when I came back I saw the flames around the lamp, you know they were in the The claws close, you smoke, I bet you but you weren't here, the divider did you use a candle or something to look for the item and we're looking for something okay so we listen I listen with a lot of respect but then I have to go in and I do my thing and I can usually prove they're fake just by going and looking away, that's what I like to do first.

I would like to go in and investigate the fire to determine where it started and what may have caused it. The occupant of the apartment that was involved in the fire was able to identify the lamp that he said was in the closet and when he looked at the lamp it did not show any signs of having caused the fire. There is no burning inside the cover. The wiring is intact, even the plug going to the receptacle shows no signs of malfunction. Typically when a light bulb starts a fire it will remain in contact with combustible material to detect errors before it actually ignites the material and usually there is some material attached to the bulb in this case is not material and there is no severe burns to the cover, so at this point I would rule out the lamp causing the fire.

I don't think we intentionally placed it far away, but I'll usually take another look at the closet. Fire is usually caused by children playing with matches or a person using a waist-high candle searching for an item. This burns more and less as we move back toward the back of the closet, indicating that the beginning possibly started toward the front. closet, so at this point I would have to disagree with what the occupants say about the cause of the fire, so I thought possibly someone was in that closet looking for something with a candle, a lighter set the clothes on fire, they both said that both individuals said they attempted to extinguish the fire.

We have this enough. People will try to put out the fire before calling the fire department. They are afraid of being blamed for it, so once we assure them that nothing will happen. If this happens, they usually come out and tell us I went back to the place where one guy said yes, he thinks maybe his partner was there looking for something with a lighter. The fire was considered an accident. No charges were filed. That's why I treated him. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing so small that I can't give up on a person for 25 years.

Ski Captain Micros was a frontline firefighter assigned to some of Baltimore's busiest fire stations after 13 years as a captain he decided to join Lie Investigator candidates must be a fire department captain for at least 10 years before I can make the change to lies. Extensive classroom study at the Fire Academy complements intensive on-the-job training with a senior researcher Mike Mariinsky was guided by Captain Griffith Sunday 4:00 a.m. m. Baltimore Maryland the first engines respond to a call at Woodland Apartments, a vacant complex in the middle of a residential neighborhood, within minutes, the rapidly spreading fire requires a three-alarm turnout, the flames are dangerously close breaking the gap between buildings and engulfing adjacent units as firefighters struggled to subdue the flames, Capt.

Mike MERS insky of the Bureau of Fire Investigation begins his long nights worth dying first. Consult theBattalion Chief Brady, who was on the scene of the fire with the first alarm response. Chief Brady shares his own assessment of the origin of the fire based on smoke

trail

s and other indicators. The chief believes the fire started in multiple locations within a building. Yeah, well, I'm ready for coffee. Okay, we want to line up here, whichever engine comes back. Judging by the way it looked when it first stopped, it appears that the fire actually started at the opposite end of the building, the entire roof structure and wooden upper parts already burned in that part and the coordinate of cheapness spreads from there.

Point here, hopefully we can enter this group of AA buildings before they enter such conditions, we will not be able to enter. Researchers say their work is often lonely. His is the only job on the front line. where the person works alone going out among the bustling fire crews Mike MERS in ski studies the fire from the burning lease areas to the areas of greatest fire looking for the point of origin of the fire the firefighters want to stop the fire with water or by demolition if It is necessary but the MERS in the ski work is somewhat at odds with the firefighters because too much water can eliminate evidence such as the presence of flammables and knocking down a roof can bury the evidence forever as you see this, we are going to have problems to investigate this again because right now it looks like the second floor of this building here has I fell on the first floor and looking at the front walls I can see some structural cracks so the condition of the building is questionable at this time.

I have to look to the side to see how to find the walls or see if we have any structural problems on the side of the second floor already falling to the first floor, but the decorative front walls are unstable and likely to fall apart at any time. It's a race to gather evidence before the building collapses. Three hours later, dawn breaks at Woodland Apartments. fire destroys 13 homes before succumbing to firefighters' watery attack Mike MERS on ski reassess s-- progress of fire with battalion chief the way it burned looked like it started down here and went up to the roof in that moment we put in a lot of pipes, it was rude because it was then - this area when we got here I said it's right in that area, so that means half an hour and 45 bird minutes to get there, a small fire Mike MERS on ski now comes in To the building he makes his way through the blue-lit rubble and comes across a clue that indicates that a flammable may have been used.

The surveys and the first floors make us suspect that perhaps a flower could have been used because, as you know, fire likes to burn. the joke only narrows, there's one last reveal of the burning pattern here, the way someone may have dumped the flammable in here because the beams in this room are completely burned and, like I've always said, the fire is trying to break out as much as possible. as far away as possible. it burned from there and then fell and then this area here is also a bunk for Joyce so it could have been a poor pattern and then it follows a root that rips out the door where someone wants to start a fire that they're going to throw out.

Lo and pour it towards a door and after they come out, set it up. Other resources are required to resolve a fire of this magnitude beneath the other as Mike MERS insky scans the fire scene and sees what may be another clue. I can take a photo. of that's on top of him too, look, look, I don't have any smell since the OJ Simpson trial collecting evidence has advanced to almost an art form for many government agencies, including sterile aluminum cans for fiber, protect potential evidence until it is examined in In the police laboratory, we are interested in the tongue-and-groove floor.

Many times the liquid runs between the two different grooves in the wood, it can get trapped there and leave enough residue that can be collected under analysis. We see that this is the tongue and groove floor and below here, which is this, here is your subfloor and where we like to get with the tails of the subfloor or the two pieces join together and that should be enough as far as the seagulls can go. Get out of this building, let them finish putting out the little fires here. Evidence must be maintained in a verifiable chain of custody from the time it is secured at the scene to the time it arrives at the laboratory for testing and analysis.

Now modern science is helping us, they have come a long way in different gaius trauma machines and charts that can detect the flammable liquids that we use, so as science improves and machines improve so will our ability to find the cause of the fire. This is the evidence that has been presented since the fire occurred. on May 25 sealed with evidence tape so we know it has not been tampered with at the time of presentation upon receipt after we have initially examined the evidence and then we will attempt to collect any type of flammable liquid residue that may be present on the burning of wood to be achieved by taking the can containing the evidence placing it on a hot plate raising the temperature inside the candle to 100 degrees Celsius so that the liquids present are put into the vapor.

List this device here which Contains a charcoal tube and a connector goes inside the can, then it is connected to a vacuum cleaner so that all the vapors that are collected inside are forced through this tube, let it heat up for 20 minutes and then we will vacuum. If we leave it for another 20 minutes, I'll inject just a couple of microliters of sample into the gas chromatograph. A couple of microliters is much less than a drop of water you would drink from a leaky faucet, so you don't need much sensitivity for this. instrument, it doesn't take much to get a result, the computers database has in its standard chromatograms of several different flammable liquids, we wouldn't take a gas standard from the gasoline chromatogram and a kerosene standard to compare with our evidence and we know that the evidence sample does not contain gasoline or kerosene, therefore this would be a negative sample.

We have no flammable liquid residue identified in this sample, but my feeling remains the same. No accelerant was used in that fire due to the fact that the area that was the walkway was completely burned where the beam completely disappeared it was just a matter of the samples we took the amount of flammable liquid that was used could have burned could have been fully absorbed the amount of water thrown what was left could have been diluted and fled to the basement, but as far as fires go, a fire was still started intentionally and in my opinion a flammable liquid was used to start it.

The police have no suspects in this case, all they can do is wait. For the arsonist to tell someone or start another fire, some researchers report a strong relationship between the full moon and an increase in the rate of calls to emergency services. However, one of the most recent studies shows no change, but John would be hard-pressed to convince. Griffith, there's a full moon this busy Saturday night in Baltimore the full moon theory in my 30 years of fire investigation I always look out the office window and see a full moon I say oh we'll be busy tonight and sure enough , we will be running all night one on a full moon I'm not a scientist but I know it affects people especially an arsonist an arsonist is a person who doesn't need a reason he just sets a fire and any little thing can see it complete Oh this is a Good excuse I'm going to make, but believe me, it's true.

In the early morning hours, the strobe lights of a fire department truck clear a side street in Baltimore's busy nightclub district. Captain John Griffith has been called to a popular watering hole, but not for a drink, when I arrived at the scene the fire unit was still there and I was directed to the cafeteria and once inside, the Austrian charge of the fire unit firefighters directed me to the bathroom. Employees told Captain Griffith that they saw smoke seeping from under the bathroom door The door was locked when they forced it open They discovered a fire Examining the burned debris Captain Griffith finds no signs of cigarette butts or any other cause accidental police officer questions last person seen leaving bathroom before fire Captain Griffith watches as a doctor searches the suspect's pockets and finds a handful of matchbooks based on his conclusive evidence.

Captain Griffith tells the officer to charge the woman with attempted arson. The fire was arson and she was the only person in the room and even she was smoking. a full room can cause a catastrophe people panic and smoke they become disoriented and cannot find their way out of even a small building they cannot breathe and the toxic smoke invades their lungs so for Captain Griffith there is nothing insignificant shooting a match can cause an entire road to burn homes tea can cause multiple deaths injuries to innocent people so I represent them I am out they are on their side I am out there to find the perpetrator and I will not give up until I find out that on a hot afternoon May a fire breaks out when two men renovate a historic house.

It quickly evolves into a three-alarm fire. The FIB investigator responds as quickly as firefighters to gather information even when the fire is already underway. progress, I'm saying you're there working at the time, yes, Captain Reggie Session is a Baltimore native and former Marine, former Fire Academy teacher, transferred FIB three years ago, Paige, while most houses in Baltimore they have firewalls that extend above the roof. The ones in this building end on the roof of the top floor, providing a perfect path for the fire to infiltrate the houses next door and then shoot everywhere while I was on the ladder, I was climbing above the Rubbish, Johnny Putin, okay? you were in a second, I had to clean that up, we don't boo, we're digging, he just spilled some on me just a second ago, baby, every once in a while, my job was a little spell, yeah, even more, where was that on the main side? then there the stairs there okay, that was 100 hours ago, it was a light bulb, but okay, and that fall will happen here the food, your food, yes, it's a winner, where did Mary say, the light bulb, yes, and then there was all that nervous fire? around me and then I was inside and there was fire around me and then I was on the stairs going up, I can go there Johnny grabbed me, picked me up from behind and right over here is where you saw the fire, are you drunk? just okay okay move right into this area here I want to clear that down to the floor if you can make a hole right next to the water drain a hole acts as a drain in the floor so the session captain can inspect the area. where the workers said a falling light bulb ignited the spilled gas once we determine the cause and call the police they will come and do all the interrogations of the suspects and make all the arrests because we have no arrest powers and we will work very closely close with the police arson, since the question of the suspects, Detective Chick Horny is a member of the police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's arson and bomb unit, the guy KC told her a story about the Marilhea gas filling, but that was three four hours ago, the baby should have done it.

They dissipated by then I guess they fall like one who drops a ball of light and here boom until now I don't know what's in a bubble because boom boom I don't think the gas vapors from two hours ago are still all that problem. The door and window hallways were open when they worked on the news. No, I do not know. Don't know. I'm going to talk to him again right now and I have the haste of the origin, but the precise and pointed words. Don't I feel depressed? Yeah, I don't know how much all the upper floors were intact and I have a lot of charring mapping this area, some over here and actually there are floor boards missing, but it's hard to say if they were missing before they did. ant without food until now made it burn a little at that point, hit all the coals, now I have no real clue as to where the actual point of origin is and I hope I could remove something from the floor but I don't want to end up everything, we do the review and maybe take a closer look at it, so that's why I'm doing the house and how much gas was spilled or wherever someone spilled enough gas. and they are saying they spilled, that could be true - okay, it could have been that we just found a gas can that wasn't there, it could have been that we will see the empty gas can be discovered in the area where the workers They said he left it butthe area itself shows little sign of burning the captain's session returns to the front wall 10 feet away from where he suspects the fire originated beneath inches of debris he finds a severely charred mattress, the strongest sign yet that this is In the area where the fire may have started, I sat down again.

I'm looking for a low burn point and I'm trying to see if there was a completely different dance release setting. I'm looking for spilled gasoline and there was a gas found in that area, there is some heavy charring, as there is a small barn there, it is not consistent with the damage here, the closer the captain looks at the physical evidence, the more it seems contradict the witness's story, why all this? side I still have the wood paint or just build it here you know it's possible man when I shoot I hit that ladder like that we had the effect like a chimney and we started rolling yeah but then on the top side not on the lower one, unless he tells me it started lower here unless there were openings there still too burnt the outer circles the upper side well one another like you said, like a chimney, but I was a student and I had some of this brown clean and then it has a serial shot like that at the bottom, yeah, if they were broadcast, yeah, you know, maybe he's not telling us the truth about where and how much, he still played the free music that the witness brought, which He is also the son of the owner of the house. to the scene to clarify the story of him how much gas accumulated here it accumulated only for about a second and then he picked it up and that was the ground before yes, the gas leak right here Did you try to clean it up?

No, no, just on the floor where it was made but a giant was on the top floor breaking this pad Johnny Depp Johnny I was right here Johnny picked me up and then we both jumped out the back window right there, okay, you looked at all the barrels, Let's give you soft hair. I did it. No, look, I kept running into the heat. No, no, I didn't think. In the city, when John recorded the passage, where would you say he saw most of the fire and the flames themselves? We have to try to think that this is very important because we are saying that the gasoline was built, we do not have any evidence of any fire there that is why it is important that you remember that right here right here yes what was there was I saw what was passing by here like a little flame then boom so negatively you move you know I didn't see it around here I'm happy to see it behind you I mean I was going like that and then I heard the second boom I guess it was like looking and I saw a flash and then John shot Johnny shot and then I couldn't get up and then Johnny came down and grabbed you up the stairs, gentle upward movement, now let me go for a run, yeah, Johnny won't get up, in fact, yeah, my jaw was moving today, they're English plants that are not real and come from the police department. we compromise determination, so it's important that you test that neighborhood because what you're listening to me now, what you're saying about the guest, the abused Phil, is not consistent with this.

Much more contradictory evidence appears. The workers' colleague tells Captain Session that the gas had been spilled on the stairs and not under them, but the captain wonders if the evidence proves that there was a mattress there that matches right in that area. He showed the hottest charring I saw here on the bottom of the mattress, despite all that. it registered all over the thermometer down to about four inches or the floor where some other debris started, you know, so I agreed that it could have been a burn on the surface down there, but this right here I just can't see it. burning from top to bottom and actually, if you look here where the liquid would have run, you still have brown wood.

I mean, even if the liquid went down, the vapors would have burned off and I just can't say I got there. and none of this burns we can always leave it undetermined at this point and then we will check with the mother and see what the status is just the insurance finances while captain session continues his investigation that day he makes a number of additional discoveries examining the debris in the first floor there was absolutely no evidence of a broken light bulb which the worker claimed had turned on the gas the electrical cord of the generator supposedly connected to the light bulb is located outside the house clean of soot and in perfect condition according to the physical evidence captain The session establishes the basement stairs as the point of origin of the fire.

Intense, rapid burning is indicative of an accelerant and samples are sent to the laboratory for analysis. This incident will be reviewed by the district attorney. The United States has the highest rate of arson in the world. In 1996, arson fires worldwide accounted for $1.5 billion in property losses worth $11 million in Baltimore alone, and while the number of arson fires has declined slightly nationwide, the number of deaths for arson has increased 33% in the last 12 months FIB has investigated more than 1,200 fires, 720 of them, almost 60% were started intentionally in those cases in Baltimore. 99 arrests were made based on the findings of Captain John Griffith, Mike MERS at the ski resort session and his colleagues, and more than three suspicious fires occurred daily.

In Baltimore there is no respite in sight for these determined hunters as they continue their relentless search for the truth behind every blame that emerges. Climb aboard engine number 13 as firefighters take to the streets of fire in the signature of discovery. Then we discovered America with David Hartman. Alaska Highway on Discovery Sunday, all the next explore your world