INTERVIEWING
Weather data is readily available. Dwelling and building ownership records likewise are readily available. Property lines and building dimension information are usually obtainable. Utility records often are available.
Other sources of information are not readily available. These relate to who was last in the property. Were there any problems with building features or contents? What circumstances involving the occupants or owners or employees may have affected the cause or spread of the fire or lead up to an explosion? In the case of both fires and explosions, it's essential to know what activities preceded a fire's ignition or the explosion's initiation.
In my opinion, it is essential for the primary fire investigator to conduct recorded interviews. There is limited value to taking the time to conduct an interview pertaining to a fire loss or explosion without producing an audio recording and a typed transcript of the interview.
Different fire investigators have different strategies with regard to conducting interviews.
My preference has been to conduct interviews with occupants, owners, tenants and guests before I physically investigated the cause of a fire or explosion.
It's easier to ask questions about the property - especially if there isn't much left of it at the time of the interview - and build a mental image of the dwelling or building by first speaking with those who were present before the fire. Waiting to begin the physical scene investigation means that the scene will need to be protected from that point until the investigation begins.
I ask a variety of questions during interviews. I inquire about the appliances, electrical circuitry, contents of each area or room and a large myriad of other questions. I ask a lot of questions.
In 1992, I developed a standard interview outline. Over time, it has grown. Not every question is asked during every interview, but I've seldom had to ask myself, "Why didn't I think to ask that?"
I quickly focus on each question and decide if it is relevant to the investigation as I'm conducting an interview. Questions about tenant-landlord relationships aren't often asked in investigations where homeowners are the parties that experienced a fire or explosion. Having an outline that covers both types of occupancies gives me the latitude to quickly decide the relevance of the questions.
The interview outline is lengthy, and these interviews can take some time. Breaks are sometimes necessary. Often, the parties being interviewed simply want to get through the interview and don't express concerns about wanting to stop.
An excerpt of five pages from my standard Fire Investigation Interview outline is viewable by returning to the menu and selecting / Fire / Investigations / Interviews / Outline Excerpts. It will appear as an Adobe PDF file.
I share this information to give you a general idea of the degree of questions that I prepared in advance of the interviews that I conducted. If you are a fire investigator and are looking for guidance in how to structure your interview, I hope these excerpted pages will help you understand the importance of conducting interviews with the use of a structured outline. You should be able to develope your own interview outline, based upon your experience and the interviews you've done already.
Fire losses are often complex, and the need for factual information is paramount throughout a fire investigation. On occasion, I have modified the standard interview outline or produced a hybrid outline for particular types of losses. An interview pertaining to a $50,000 bulldozer fire loss needs a different type of outline than one primarily used for a dwelling or a commercial structure.
The use of a standardized interview outline helps the interviewer avoid falling into traps associated with an interview based on no written outline or sequencing. I have no knowledge base that tells me the interview methods that other fire and explosion investigators use. However, I have investigated enough fires and explosions to know that some investigators believe they can interview people without the need for a formal outline. Perhaps they can. I wouldn't.
I know from my experience that an interview based on a sequential series of questions is much more likely to provide relevant answers than if I simply relied upon my memory and on-the-spot perceptions of what might need to be asked.
While interviewing is most often performed at or near the incident scene, I have conducted interviews in a variety of locations away from the incident site.
An important consideration to keep in mind is that the interviewee may have been subjected to moderate or major personal (or psychological) trauma by a fire or explosion. Many of the people that I've interviewed have been interviewed within 24 to 36 hours of an incident.
Interviewees that are medicated or hospitalized most likely won't be as helpful as they would be if the interview were conducted later. Consequently, I haven't interviewed anyone that has been hospitalized or sedated.
An interview conducted when coherence or pain levels are questionable is likely to present a variety of challenges that may be impossible to overcome - rendering portions of an interview partially or wholly unusable. In my opinion, an interview cannot be conducted a second time. It's a matter of doing it correctly the first time or not doing it at all.
During interviews, I have frequently asked the interviewees to create hand-drawn rough diagrams of walls, doors, window openings and locations of contents. These drawings are very helpful when the interviewee places room contents in their "pre-fire" or "pre-explosion" positions. These rough drawings become part of the interview documents. They are not substitutes for drawings made by fire investigators.
Please refer to the applicable sections of NFPA 921 "Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations" for additional information regarding conducting interviews in relation to fire and explosion incidents.