burn patterns
Flames leave these
Burn patterns are the marks, shapes, and damage left by fire on surfaces, used by investigators to determine how a fire started and spread.
Arson investigators read burn patterns to identify the point of origin and distinguish accidental fires from intentional ones: The burn patterns suggested the fire was set deliberately.
The term also appears in discussions of welding, sun exposure, and other contexts where heat leaves characteristic traces.
- fire investigationAnalyzing a blaze's origin
- accelerantCombustion-intensifying substance
- flashoverSudden total combustion event
- sootCarbon from incomplete burning
- carbonizationConversion to char
pyrolysis · smoke damage · char · prescribed burns · controlled burns · blacken · fire triangle · streak · fire behavior · ember · wildfire · convection currents · fire scene · ignition source · radiant heat · ash · scorch · spread
- evidenceevidence, evidence bag, circumstantial evidence, proof, admissible
- fire sciencefire behavior, fire spread, ignition, combustion, flames