Fire Officer 2

Chapter 14

Knowledge Check

1. Once an item is considered evidence, it is to be secured and its handling and transfer of custody documented until:

the pyrolysis stage.

the overhaul process.

it reaches its _final disposition.

it reaches the warm operating zone.

2. Company officers may attempt to determine fire origin and spread by observing fire effects and recognizing and interpreting:

fire patterns.

fire methods.

witness statements.

suspicious witnesses.

3. When examining fire patterns, take note of the visible boundaries or borders where fire or products of combustion:

were extinguished by an automatic or manual sprinkler system.

are obscured or invisible because it burned in a V-shaped pattern.

affected the surface but left adjacent surfaces less affected or intact.

were immediately suppressed though contact with ventilation sources.

4. A competent ignition source must have sufficient time to transfer the required heat to the:

white ash.

last material.

first material.

hot-gas layer.

5. The spread of a wildland fire is due to radiant heat from burning materials affecting other:

fire patterns.

adjacent fuels.

points of origin.

ignition sources.

6. Which fire pattern generally indicates where large objects were positioned before the fire?

Object bums

Protected areas

Pointers or arrows

Suppression-generated

7. All incident-related evidence including, documents of evidentiary value, and any other items that support the findings of the investigation are also subject to:

determination laws.

cause classifications.

scientific hypotheses.

chain-of-custody rules.

8. What step should be part of a vehicle fire scene examination?

Document the topography of the vehicle

Observe the available methods of egress for the vehicle

Obtain information about the vehicle's history and documentation

Obtain the driver's vehicular violation history from law enforcement

9. What information should be obtained and documented anytime the custody of an item changes?

Cause and origin determination from the jurisdiction's fire investigator

Thorough examination notes on the fire patterns where the item was found

Condition of the item or its packaging when it was transferred to the new custodian

Information gathered from witnesses, the occupants of the structure, and victim's relatives

10. What search method makes it possible to use fire indicators to determine the path of fire spread and the area of fire origin?

Start on the interior of the structure and work outward

Start at the lowest point of the structure to the highest point

Work from the areas of least damage to areas of greatest damage

Work from the areas of most damage to the areas of least damage

11. 30. A fire's cause is classified as accidental when it involves a(an):

second fire in the same structure.

liquid that is foreign to a particular location.

intentional human act to ignite or spread fire.

unintentional human act to ignite or spread fire.

12. When a fire's area of origin is apparent, the Company Officer II is responsible for:

filling out documentation needed for legal proceedings.

conducting an in-depth and thorough fire investigation.

acting as fire investigator until a certified investigator arrives on scene.

ensuring that those responsible for reporting the fire fill out an incident report.

13. What can a company officer do during the examination of a vehicle fire to make documentation and comparative analysis easier?

Remove the white ash from within the vehicle

Divide the interior area into separate compartments

Interview the driver and any passengers individually

Separate the fire scene by topography and fuel variation

14. Finding the origin of the fire involves knowledge of:

fire surveys.

fire behavior.

organizational staffing.

policies and procedures.

15. In order to begin the combustion process, a first material must be capable of absorbing and retaining __ from the ignition source.

ambient air

heat energy

gaseous layers

premixed oxygen

16. If tire tracks or footprints are noticed at a scene, the company officer should:

ask the nearest bystander if they made them.

document them according to AHJ procedures.

use their personal smartphone to photograph them.

ignore them and concentrate on finding the point of origin.

17. If a witness is suspected of a fire-related crime, a company officer should consider having an authorized person deliver __ before initiating the interview.

counseling

rehabilitation

Right of Entry

Miranda rights

18. In which stage of a fire investigation does a person's action or omission need be considered as the event that brought together the competent ignition source with the first material ignited?

Interview of witnesses

Search for the first material

Identification of a fire's origin

Evaluation of ignition sequences

19. Wind, topography, aspect, and fuel variations affect a wildland fire's:

motive and opportunity.

clean bums and protected areas.

cause and ignition classifications.

spread rate and direction of travel.

20. Company officers must remember that determining a fire's area of origin is based on:

established opportunity.

a hypothesis that needs to be tested.

conclusions made when first arriving to the incident.

determining where the most damage is within a structure.

21. Which fire pattern results in almost all vertical and horizontal compartment surfaces showing signs of damage?

Equal burn

Clean burn

Full-room-involvement

Irregular-room-involvement

22. A company officer investigating a fire scene must be aware that the __ may have been altered or destoyed by the fire.

heat source

fire patterns

motive and opportunity

products of combustion

23. Incident photographs provide a timeline of the fire's progress, the fire's location, and the:

activities and locations of fire-suppression personnel, bystanders, and witnesses.

fire's relative location from the department or another major community landmark.

location of potential circumstantial evidence that could be used in a legal proceeding.

steps of the scientific method that will be used to determine the fire's cause and area of ongm.

24. What piece of information may be depicted in a drawing of a fire scene?

Drawings of the responding apparatus

Details regarding a building's contents

Pictorial depictions of potential suspects

Notes on the physical characteristics ofresponders

25. A fire pattern on a noncombustible surface such as a brick wall may look like:

melting.

spalling.

staining.

charring.

26. When it is necessary to move evidence from its original position at a secure incident scene, responders should record the:

time and the name of the person moving the evidence.

name and birth date of the person moving the evidence.

movement of the evidence using a personal smartphone camera.

fact that the evidence has been moved via a social media update.

27. A plume-generated fire pattern is the result of the plume of hot gases:

lowering after a backdraft.

rising above an individual fire.

suffocating under fire extinguishing agents.

burning downward through the floor surface.

28. Which piece of information assists in the determination of fire growth and development?

Command structure used at the incident

Fire-suppression efforts used on the structure

Who reported the incident to emergency dispatch

How many candles were in the structure before the fire

29. Fire patterns provide information on how the fire:

was mitigated.

was first ignited.

traveled from its area of origin.

weakened from exposure to ventilation.

30. Which is a basic step used to determine a fire's area of origin?

Search for natural perimeter markings

Interview witnesses and other first responders

Use common sense to analyze the information gathered

Set up a 1-mile (1600 m) search perimeter around the scene

Fire Officer 2

Chapter 14

Quick Links

Useful Links