A recent news report discusses how advances in fire science are leading some states to reexamine arson convictions.
Authorities in Texas and elsewhere are beginning to take another look at cases in which defendants were sent to prison for setting fires based on expert testimony about burn patterns and charring that today is considered suspect, the Associated Press reports (http://abcn.ws/WGNGUJ).
Before the National Fire Protection Association issued its first set of fire investigation guidelines in 1992, fire investigators did not always use uniform procedures. Also, advances in scientific analysis have found other explanations for burn patterns once considered to be signs of arson.
Read more about the cases that could be impacted by these changes at http://abcn.ws/WGNGUJ.
For firefighter training articles on arson-related issues, consider INTERSTATE ARSON : CATCHING THE TRAVELING SERIAL ARSONIST, ARSON PREVENTION: MOTIVES AND MITIGATION PROGRAMS, and ANTIARSON EFFORTS.
