Microbiological Self-Ignition as a Cause of Fire: Guidelines for Investigators and Forensic Examiners

• Main Author: I. S. Taubkin
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Russian Federal Centre of Forensic Science 2016-12-01
• Series: Теория и практика судебной экспертизы
• Subjects: hay; peat; microorganisms; temperature; self-heating; spontaneous combustion; smoldering; flame; fire
• Online Access: https://www.tipse.ru/jour/article/view/12

The paper presents a list of plant products prone to microbiological self-heating and spontaneous combustion. It examines the conditions and indicators of the emergence and development of these processes in hay and peat. An example from forensic casework describes fire in a haystack resulting from its microbiological spontaneous combustion. It is demonstrated that the “hay clinker” effect may arise both from spontaneous combustion and from an act of arson; therefore, it cannot be used as a differentiating feature of arson. Equations are proposed for the prediction of conditions leading to thermal self-ignition of hay and peat, with examples of calculations. The paper includes previously published data on the emission of heat by various materials at 20 °С, and their aeration, as well as data needed for the analysis of the causes of hay or peat fire resulting from their microbiological self-ignition.