ARSON VOCAB

Microtaggants

These fluorescent, color-coded, multilayered particles identify the residue as dynamite and indicate the source of manufacture.

Arson

The willful and malicious burning of a person's property.

Low-Order Explosive

A type of material that burns or detonates at a speed lower than 3,300 feet per second; they typically involve pyrotechnics that create smoke, light, heat, and sound.

Delay Device

An incendiary or detonation device of some type that is employed to allow the arsonist depart the scene or establish an alibi.

Secondary Device

A second explosive bomb placed at a scene to detonate the original explosion.

Detonation Point

The location point where the device was detonated.

Point of Origin

The location where a fire actually started; the place where it began.

Accelerant

Any substance used to accelerate (and sometimes direct) the spread of fire.

Flammable Range

The mixture of fuel vapors and oxygen, expressed as a concentration (percentage) of fuel vapors in air, which will result in flammability

Flash Point

The lowest temperature at which a solid or liquid material produces sufficient vapors to burn under laboratory conditions.

High-Order Explosive

A type of material designed to detonate and yield a near instantaneous release of energy; chemically detonates at a speed greater than 3,300 feet per second.

Incendiary Evidence

Includes crime scene debris.

Masking Fire

Fire set to mask the commission of other crimes

Pyromaniac

Serial fire starters

Direct Evidence

A type of evidence that proves a fact without the necessity of an inference or a presumption.

Pyrolysis

Transformation of a compound into one or more other substances by heat alone.

Spontaneous Combustion

A product of a natural heat-producing process.

Trailers

used to make the fire spread faster