FIRE PROTECTION

&
ARSON INVESTIGTION

Percentage Weight in Crime Detection and Investigation – 3% (15 items)

Desired Competencies:
1. Explain the concept of Combustion.
2. Illustrate the Classifications, Causes, Prevention, Control and Extinguishments of Fire.
3. Recall the Organization, & Mandates of the Bureau of Fire Protection.
4. Understand, and critique The Revised Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008 (RA 9514), it’s
IRRR, and The Law on Destructive Arson and relevant provisions on the Building Code of
the Philippines.
5. Implement the Techniques and Procedure in Fire and Arson Investigation and
Processing of Arson Evidence, and filing of charges in court.
 FIRE
Fire
- the manifestation of rapid chemical reaction occurring between fuel and an oxidizer
Pyrolysis
- vaporization of solid and liquid fuels and the production of ignitable vapors or gases
- the chemical process whereby fire consumes the most solid part of the fuel
- thermal decomposition of a solid fuel through the action of heat

The Fire Triangle

• FUEL – any substance which reacts chemically with oxygen and produces
flames
• OXYGEN – colorless and odorless gas
• HEAT – form of energy generated by the transmission of some other form
of energy

Fire Tetrahedron
1. Fuel
2. Oxidizing Agent
3. Heat
4. Uninhibited Chemical Chain Reaction – series of events that occur in
sequence with the results of each reaction being added to the rest

PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION
1. Fire gases - those that remain when other products of combustion cool to normal temperature.
2. Flame - the visible (light-emitting) part of a fire caused by a highly exothermic reaction taking
place in a thin ozone
Types of Flame:
Color and Completeness of Combustions
a. Luminous flame – product of incomplete combustion, reddish-orange in color, has
lower temperature and deposits soot
b. Non-luminous flame – product of complete combustion, bluish in color, has higher
temperature and does not deposit soot
Burning Fuel and Air Mixture
a. Premixed flame – fuel and oxidizer are mixed prior to the passage of the reaction zone
Example: Bunsen burner, stove
b. Diffusion flame – fuel and oxidizer are not mixed prior to reacting
Example: Oxyacetylene torch, lighter
Based on Smoothness
a. Laminar flame – particles follow a smooth path through a gaseous flame.
b. Turbulent flame – those having unsteady, irregular swirls and eddies.
3. Heat - energy transferred between two objects of differing temperature
- spreads the fire
4. Smoke - visible product of incomplete combustion
- mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, CO, CO2, and finely divided particles released from the
burning material

FUELS
Combustible Materials - a matter; exist in three physical states: solid, liquid and gas
Solid Fuels - wood, paper and cloth. Its burning rate depends on its configuration.
Types of Flammable solids
a. Pyrolyzable solid fuels – ordinary accepted combustibles like wood and paper
b. Non-pyrolyzable solid fuels – difficult to ignite like charcoal.
Liquid Fuels - mainly made from Petroleum, but some synthetic liquids are also produced
Petroleum - crude oil which may be refined to produce gasoline, diesel oil, and kerosene.

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 2 General Groups of Liquid Fuels
1. Flammable liquids – liquids having a flash point of 37.8⁰C (100⁰F).
2. Combustible Liquids – liquids have flash point at or above 37.8⁰C (100⁰F).
Gas Fuels - molecules are in rapid movement and random motion
- have no definite shape or volume, and assume the shape and volume of their container
Properties of gas fuels
• Compressibility and expandability - the potential in changes in volume
• Diffusion - uniform distribution of molecules of one substance through those of another
• Permeability - other substances may pass through
Classification of Gases
• According to Physical Properties
a. Compressed Gas – at all normal temperature inside its container; exist solely in the
gaseous state under pressure
b. Liquefied Gas – at normal temperature inside its container, exist partly in the liquid
state and partly in gaseous state and under pressure
c. Cryogenic Gas – a liquefied gas which exist in its container at temperature far below
normal atmospheric temperature
Chemical Fuels - used chiefly in rocket engines - chemical hydrazine
Nuclear Fuels - provide energy through the fission or fusion of their atoms.
a. Nuclear Fission – splitting of the nucleus of atoms
b. Nuclear Fusion – combination of two light nuclei of atom

HEAT
Thermodynamics - a science that defines energy, heat, temperature and other properties.

Specific Heat - measure of the amount of heat required raising the temperature of a unit mass of a
substance one-degree
Latent Heat - amount of heat to produce a change of phase
a. Sublimation - process of changing from solid to gas
b. Melting - from solid to liquid as melting
c. Vaporization - from liquid to vapor
Unit of Temperature
• Centigrade (Celsius) - zero is the melting point of ice; 100 degrees is the boiling point of water.
• Fahrenheit - 32 degrees is the melting point of ice; 212 degrees is the boiling point of water.
• Kelvin - zero reflects the complete absence of thermal energy.

Five ways to produce heat

a. Chemical – chemically produced heat is the result of rapid oxidation
b. Mechanical – product of friction like the rubbing of two sticks together to generate enough heat
c. Electrical – product of arcing, shorting or other electrical malfunction
d. Compressed gas – the molecular activity of a gas compressed is greatly increased, producing heat
e. Nuclear – product of the splitting or fusing of atomic particles

Heat Transfer
• Conduction
- transfer of heat by molecular activity with in a material or medium, usually a solid
- direct contact is the underlying factor in conduction.
• Convection
- transfer of heat through a circulating medium, usually air or liquid.
- chiefly responsible for the spread of fire in structures.
• Radiation
- radiated heat moves in wave and rays much like sunlight.
- primarily responsible for the exposure hazards that develop and exist during a fire.
- heat waves travel in a direct or straight line from their source until they strike an object.

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 OXYGEN
Oxidizing Agent (Oxygen)
- common oxidizing agent is oxygen present in air.
- a colorless, odorless, tasteless, gaseous chemical element, the most abundant of all elements
- air composes 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and 1 % inert gas (principally Argon).
Note:
21% normal oxygen - needed to produce fire
12% oxygen - insufficient to produce fire
14-15% oxygen - can support flash point
16-21% oxygen - can support fire point

CLASSIFICATION OF FIRES
Based on Cause
• Natural causes
a. Spontaneous heating – the gradual rising of heat in a confined space until ignition
temperature is reached.
b. Lightning – a natural current with a great magnitude, producing tremendous amperage
and voltage.
c. Radiation of Sunlight – when sunlight hits a concave mirror, concentrating the light on a
combustible material
• Accidental Causes
a. Short Circuit – unusual connections between two points at different potentials (charge) in
an electrical circuit of relatively low resistance
b. Arcing – electrical current crosses the gap between 2 electrical conductors
c. Sparking – production of incandescent particles when two different potentials (charged
conductors) come in contact
d. Induced Current – sudden increase of electrical current resulting to the burning of
insulating materials, explosion of the fuse box, or burning of electrical appliances
e. Overheating of electrical appliances – increase or rising of amperage while electric current
is flowing in a transmission line
• Intentional causes (Incendiary)
• Accelerant – highly flammable chemicals that are used to facilitate flame propagation
• Plant – preparation and gathering of combustible materials needed to start a fire
• Trailer – preparation of flammable substances in order to spread the fire

Classes of Fire
1. Class A – ordinary combustible materials like wood, wood-based products, rubber, leather, and
plastic products
2. Class B – materials that are in the form of flammable liquids like alcohol, acidic solutions, oil, liquid
petroleum products
3. Class C – fire-resistant materials like those used in electrical wiring and other electrical appliances
4. Class D – combustible metallic substances like magnesium, titanium, zirconium and potassium
5. Class K – materials involved in kitchen fires

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 PROPERTIES OF FIRE
Physical Properties
1. Specific Gravity – ratio of the weight of a solid or liquid substance to the weight of an equal volume
of water
2. Vapor density – weight of a volume of pure gas composed to the volume of dry air at the same
temperature and pressure
3. Vapor Pressure – force exerted by the molecules on the surface of a liquid
4. Temperature – measure of the degree of thermal agitation of molecules
5. Boiling Point – constant temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the
atmospheric pressure
6. Ignition/Kindling temperature – minimum temperature at which the substance must be heated in
order to initiate combustion
7. Fire point – lowest temperature of a liquid in an open container at which vapors are evolved fast
enough to support combustion
8. Flash point – lowest temperature at which a flammable liquid forms a vapor-air mixture that ignites

Chemical Properties
1. Endothermic Reactions – energy is absorbed or is added before reaction takes place
2. Exothermic Reactions – release or give off energy
3. Oxidation – combustible material and an oxidizing agent react
4. Flames – incandescent gases, a combustion product and a manifestation of fire when it is in its
gas-phased combustion
THREE STAGES OF FIRE
1. Incipient Phase (Initial Stage)
- normal room temperature (400-800 F)
- pyrolysis products are mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide
2. Free Burning Phase
- accelerated pyrolysis process take place
- pyrolytic decomposition moves upward on the walls leaving burnt patterns
- occurrence of flashover
3. Smoldering Phase
- oxygen content drops to 13% or below
- products of incomplete combustion increase in volume, particularly carbon monoxide
- building contains large quantities of superheated fuel under pressure but little oxygen
- when sufficient supply of oxygen is introduced, backdraft occurs.

Dangerous Behavior of Fire

• Backdraft
- sudden and rapid burning of heated gases in a confined area that occurs because of
improper ventilation.
- if a room is not properly ventilated, highly flammable vapors maybe accumulated such that
when a door is suddenly opened, the room violently sucks the oxygen from the outside
• Flashover
- sudden ignition of accumulated radical gases produced when there is incomplete
combustion of fuels
- when accumulated volume of radical gases suddenly burns, there will be a very intense fire
that is capable of causing flames to jump at a certain distance in the form of fireball.
• Biteback
- fire resists extinguishment operations and become stronger and bigger instead
• Flash Fire – better known as dust explosion
- dust particles covering the metal burn simultaneously thus creating a violent chemical
reaction that produces a very bright flash followed by an explosion.
• Rollover
- the point at which gases produced by pyrolysis ignites
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 FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT
Four Methods of Extinguishment
1. Cooling
- uses an extinguishing agent whose primary characteristics is heat absorption (water)
2. Smothering
- excludes oxygen from the fuel so that the gases of the fuel cannot ignite and continue combustion
3. Separation
- removal of fuel
4. Inhibition or the Interruption of the chemical chain reaction

Extinguishing Agents
• Water - most commonly used agent in firefighting
- used only on Class A fires
- due to its conductivity, it must not be used on electrical fires
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - non-combustible and non-reactive with most substances
- very effective for Class C fires due to its non-conductivity
• Dry Chemical - Sodium bicarbonate, Potassium bicarbonate and mono ammonium phosphate
- stable at low temperatures but it has an upper storage temperature of 140⁰F – above
would cause some caking or sticking of the powder
- for use on Class B or Class C fires
• Dry Powder - for extinguishment of combustible metal fires
- for Class D fires and should not be used on other types of fires
• AFFF (Aqueous Filming Forming Foam) - highly effective agent for its quick “knock down” and
“heat reduction” properties
- to be applied at a 6% mixture (with water)
- primarily used to extinguish Class B fires
• Halons (Halogenated Agents) - halogenate hydrocarbons
- interrupts the chain reaction as it decreases in life safety hazard
- for Class B and Class C fires and have some effect or success on Class A fires

Fire Extinguishers
- a portable device used to put out fires of limited size.
Classification of Fire Extinguishers and Ratings
• Class A type – for fires involving ordinary combustible materials such as wood, clothes and paper
• Class B type – for fires involving liquids, grease, and gases
• Class C type - suitable for use on electrically energized fires.
• Class D type - for use on flammable metals and are often specific type of metal in question.
• Class K type - for cooking medias or kitchen fires.

Markings required on Fire Extinguishers

Under (Rule 37, Sec. 106 of PD 1185), all fire
extinguishers manufactured or sold in the
Philippines must be labelled or marked to show
at least the following:
1. Date of original filling
2. Chemical Contents
3. Type of extinguisher
4. Operating Instruction and Safe
Procedure in usage
5. Name and address of the manufacturer
6. Name and address of the dealer.

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General Operating Procedures in Fire Extinguishment
Modified by the acronym PASS.
• P – Pull the pin at the top of the extinguisher that keeps the handle from being pressed
• A – Aim the nozzle or outlet towards the fire. Release and point at the base of the fire
• S – Squeeze the handle above carrying handle to discharge the extinguishing agent inside
• S – Sweep the nozzle sideways at the base of the flame to disperse the extinguishing agent

FIRE SAFETY
When Not to Fight Fire?
• If fire has already spread beyond where it originally started.
• If you are in a situation where, while fighting the fire, you have no avenue of escape.
• If you do not have any adequate firefighting equipment.
Note: The safest thing to do - leave immediately and call the fire department
When to Successfully Fight Fire?
• The fire has just started.
• You have the correct and appropriate firefighting equipment.
• You know what you are doing.
What to Do when Actually Catches Fire?
• STOP moving immediately.
• DROP to the ground or floor.
• ROLL to smother the flames.

Fire Safety Design in Buildings

Section 701 (Occupancy Classifications) of PD 1906
• Group A – Residential Dwellings
• Group B – Residentials, Hotels and Apartments – multiple dwelling units which accommodates
more than 10 persons.
• Group C – Education and Recreation
• Group D – Institutional
• Group E - Business and Mercantile
• Group F – Industrial
• Group G - Storage and Hazardous
• Group H - Assembly Other Than Group I
• Group I – Assembly Occupant Load 1000 or More
• Group J – Accessory

a. Places of Assembly – 50 or more persons gather together for purposes like deliberation,
entertainment, amusement, or awaiting transportation
b. Educational Occupancy – 6 or more persons gather for purposes of instructions
c. Institutional Occupancy – for treatment or care of persons suffering from physical or mental illness,
disease or infirmary, care of infants, aged persons, and for penal or correctional purposes
d. Residential Occupancy – with sleeping accommodation provided for residential purposes
e. Mercantile Occupancy – used for the purpose of selling merchandise or goods
f. Business Occupancy – used for transactions of business other than the covered under mercantile
g. Industrial Occupancy – for making products of all kinds and properties developed for operations
like processing, assembling, mixing, packaging, etc.
h. Storage Occupancy – utilized primarily for the storage or sheltering of goods or products

Fire Detection and Alarm Systems

• Heat detectors – restorable type that send signals when a certain air temperature is reached.
• Smoke detectors – offers two mechanisms for sensing smoke and other products of combustion.
• Flame detectors – sensitive to ultraviolet and infrared light emission.
• Particle Sampling detector – detects specific gases associated with combustion
• Audible Signaling Device – like horn, gong, bell, siren, whistle or recorded voice tape.

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Water Sprinkler System
- built-in fire suppression or firefighting system
- to protect the building structure, limit the spread of fire and control the amount of heat produces
- all high-rise buildings (15 meters in height) must be equipped with these

Types of Sprinkler System

• Wet pipe sprinkler systems – traditional fire sprinklers
- pressurized water is stored in the pipes
• Dry Pipe System – do not store water in their pipes
- filled with pressurized air or nitrogen, which is released if a fire activates the valves
• Pre-action systems – require a two-step activation.
- sprinkler heads can be individually activated to release water over the fire
- enables facilities to shut off the system in case of a false alarm
• Deluge sprinkler – sprinkler heads are always open
- require an external smoke or heat sensor to activate
- for industries with flammable liquids that are likely to spread rapidly

Standpipes and Hose System

- system of vertical pipes in a building to which fire hoses can be attached on each floor, including a
system by which water is made available to the outlets as needed
Standpipes:
a. Provide effective quantities of water to a fire quickly in difficult-to-reach places of buildings.
b. Provide a ready means of protecting a building occupants or contents.

FIRE PROTECTION
• Fire Protection - descriptive term referring to the various methods to stop, extinguish and control
destructive fire for eventual prevention of loss of life and property
• Fire Prevention - various safety measures utilized to stop harmful or destructive fires from starting

Fire Fighting Operations - refers to fire suppression activities

• Pre-Fire Planning - developing and defining systematic course of actions that maybe performed
- process of establishing the SOP in case fire breaks out
• Evaluation – Size-Up - process-knowing
- mental evaluation to determine the appropriate course of action that provides the highest
probability of success
• Evacuation - transferring people, livestock, and property away from the burning area
• Entry - accessing the burning structure
• Rescue - removing people and other livestock from the burning building and other involved
properties, conveying them to a secure place
• Exposure - securing other buildings near the burning structure in order to prevent the fire from the
extending to another building
• Confinement - restricting the fire at the place where it started
- preventing fire from extending to another section
• Ventilation - displacing heated atmosphere within the involved building with normal air from
outside atmosphere
Types of Ventilation
a. Vertical ventilation – must be worked from the top and down
b. Cross or Horizontal ventilation – clears the building one floor at a time
c. Mechanical or Forced ventilation – smoke ejector is utilized to remove faster excessive
heat and dense smoke in a confined building.
• Salvage - protecting the properties from preventable damage other than the fire
• Salvage Covers – tarpaulins made of cotton canvas material treated with a waterproofing
compound
• Extinguishment - putting out the main body of fire by using the 4 methods of fire extinguishments

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 • Overhaul - complete and detailed check of the structure and all materials therein to eliminate
conditions that may cause re-flash
- complete extinguishments of sparks or smoldering substances to prevent possibilities of
re-ignition or rekindling
• Fire Scene Investigation - an inquiry conducted to know or determine the origin and cause of fire

FIRE EQUIPMENT
Fire Hose
- flexible tube used by firefighters to carry water under pressure from the source of supply to a point
where it is discharged to extinguish fire
Hose Tools
• Universal Thread Adapter - can make a very quick connection to damaged or unusual size male
hose connections.
• Hose Jacket - clamped over a leaking hose connection to confine the water
• Hose Clamp - used to stop the flow of water in a fire hose without shutting off the source of water
supply
• Hose Strap – 36-inch length of cloth strap for moving hose layouts, usually up ladders or staircases
• Rope – safety line used for hoisting tools for various floors of a structure
• Hose Bridge – used to prevent damage to the hose when vehicles cross a street
• Chafing Blocks – used to prevent damage to hoses subjected to rubbing from vibrations
• Rubber Mallet – used to strike the lugs of a coupling to tighten or loosen the coupling
• Hose Roller – used to prevent damage to hose lines when it is being dragged over sharp objects
Valve Devices – increases or decreases the number of hose lines being used during firefighting operations
a. Wye Appliances or Dividing Breeching - can divide one hose stream into two or more hose
streams
b. Siamese Appliances or Collecting Breeching – can combine two or more hose lines or stream into
one hose line or stream.

Ladder
- a portable piece of equipment with rungs attached to sides used for climbing up or down
Ground Ladders
• Straight ladder – contains only one section (12-16 feet)
• Hook ladder – a straight ladder mounted on a movable socket that permits them to fold inward
when not in use
• Extension ladder – consists of bed and one or more fly ladders
Parts of an Extension Ladder:
1. Base Section/Bed Section/Main Section – the lower section
2. Fly Section – the upper section or top portion
3. Halyard – a rope used for hoisting fly sections
4. Pulley – the small grooved wheel through which the halyard is drawn
5. Dogs/Locks/Pawls – hold the fly section in place after it has been raised
6. Guides – guide the fly section while being raised
7. Top or Tip –extreme top of a ladder
8. Beam – side rail of a ladder
9. Rung – cross members between the beams on which people climb
10. Heel (Butt) – the bottom or ground end of a ladder
11. Heel Plates – metal safety plates attached to the heel of a ground ladder to stabilize
• Attic ladder – provides means of reaching through an opening into attics, lofts, and other areas
• Hydraulic Aerial Ladders – power operated metal ladder mounted on specially build chassis
• Elevating Platforms (Articulated Boom ladder) – primarily a portable elevator
• Tower Ladders – telescoping boom has a ladder mounted on it, but the top is a partially enclosed
platform

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 FIRE INVESTIGATION
Bureau of fire Protection - government agency responsible for the prevention and suppression of all
destructive fires on buildings, houses and other structures, forest, land transportation vehicles and
equipment, ships or vessels docked at piers or major seaports, petroleum industry installation, plane
crashes and other similar incidents, as well as the enforcement of the Fire Code and other related laws
- has the major power to investigate all causes of fires and necessary, file the proper complaints with
the proper authority that has jurisdiction over the case
Fire investigation is complex and unique because of the following reasons:
1. Fire destroys evidence.
2. If it is Arson, it is planned, motivated and committed in discreet.
3. Rarely can there be an eyewitness in Arson.
Why Fires should be investigated?
- to determine the cause of the fire in order to prevent similar occurrences

The Tell-Tale Signs of Arson

Color of Smoke – made at the start of the fire.
• White smoke – humid material
• Biting smoke, irritating the nose and throat – chlorine
• Black smoke accompanied by large flames – petroleum products and rubber.
• Reddish-brown smoke – nitrocellulose
• Black smoke with deep red flame – petroleum products, tar, rubber, plastics, etc.
• Heavy brown with bright red flame – nitrogen products
• White smoke with bright flame – magnesium products
• Black smoke with red and blue green flame – asphalt
• Purple-violet flame – potassium products
• Greenish-yellow flame – Chloride or Manganese products
• Bright reddish yellow flame – Calcium products

Pyromania - persons having the uncontrollable impulse to burn anything without any motivation
Types of Pyromania
• Abnormal Youth – epileptics, imbeciles and morons
• Hero Type – a person set a building on fire and pretends to discover it, turn on the alarm or
make some rescue works to appear as “hero”
• Drug addicts and alcoholics
• Sexual deviates and perverts

How to determine origin of fire

"Backwards Theory" - conducted from the exterior to the interior, and from the least damaged areas to the
most heavily damaged areas.

Fire Patterns
• V patterns - narrow V-patterns are produced by a fast-developing fire
- wide V-patterns are produced by a slow developing fire
• Depth of char - how deep the burning char from the surface of the wood was
- the point of deepest char in the wood is likely to be the point of origin of the fire
•
• Crazing - presence of irregular cracks in glass

• Alligatoring
- charred wood with “large, rolling blisters” giving it
the appearance of alligator skin
- indication of rapid fire
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 • Lines of demarcation - boundary line between the charred and
uncharred material
- presence of puddle shapes usually indicates an accelerator
- distinct line indicates rapid burning

• Spalling - chipping or pitting of concrete or masonry

surfaces
- matched with the presence of accelerants especially
in cases where brown strains are also observed

FIRE INVESTIGATION
PD 1613 - LAW ON ARSON
Arson
- any person who burns or sets fire to the property of another
- sets fire to his own property under circumstances which expose to danger the life or property of
another
Destructive Arson
If the property burned is:
• ammunition factory and other establishment where explosives, inflammable or combustible
materials are stored.
• archive, museum, whether public or private, or any edifice devoted to culture, education or social
services.
• church or place of worship or other building where people usually assemble.
• train, airplane or any aircraft, vessel or watercraft, or conveyance for transportation
• building where evidence is kept for use in any legislative, judicial, administrative or other official
proceedings.
• hospital, hotel, dormitory, lodging house, housing tenement, shopping center, public or private
market, theater or movie house or any similar place or building.
• building, whether used as a dwelling or not, situated in a populated or congested area
Other Cases of Arson
If the property burned is:
• building used as offices of the government or any of its agencies
• inhabited house or dwelling
• industrial establishment, shipyard, oil well or mine shaft, platform or tunnel
• plantation, farm, pastureland, growing crop, grain field, orchard, bamboo grove or forest
• rice mill, sugar mill, cane mill or mill central
• railway or bus station, airport, wharf or warehouse
Special Aggravating Circumstances in Arson
• If committed with intent to gain
• If committed for the benefit of another
• If the offender is motivated by spite or hatred towards the owner or occupant of the property
burned
• If committed by a syndicate
Prima Facie Evidence of Arson
• If the fire started simultaneously in more than one part of the building or establishment
• If substantial amounts of flammable substance are stored within the building not necessary in the
business of the offender or for house hold use.
• If gasoline, kerosene or other flammable or combustible substances are found in the ruins or
premises of the burned building or property
• If the building is insured for substantially more than its actual value at the time of issuance of the
policy.
• If during the lifetime of the corresponding fire insurance policy more than two fires have occurred
in the same or other premises owned or under the control of the offender and / or insured.
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 • If shortly before the fire, a substantial portion of the effects insured and stored in a building or
property had been withdrawn from the premises except in the ordinary course of business.
• If a demand for money or other valuable consideration was made before the fire in exchange for
the desistance of the offender or the safety of the person or property of the victim.

Illustrations:
➢ Dagami concealed Bugna’s body and the fact that he killed him by setting Bugna’s house on fire.
What crime or crimes did Dagami commit?
- Murder and Arson
➢ With intent to cause damage, AAA deliberately set fire upon the two- storey residential house of
his employer, mostly made of wooden materials. The blaze spread and gutted down seven
neighboring houses. On the occasion of the fire, six persons sustained burn injuries which were
the direct cause of their death. What crime was committed by AAA?
- Arson
➢ With intent to kill, GGG burned the house where F and D were staying. F and D died as a
consequence. What is the proper charge against GGG?
- Two counts of murder
➢ Darwin with intent to burn the house of Gregorio put a bunch of dried hay and dried leaves in the
back portion of the house and set them on fire. Carl happens to be passing by helped in putting
off the fire before it was ablaze. A slight discoloration was left on the back wall of the house.
Darwin is liable for?
- Attempted arson
➢ Buga Ong had tried to burn the premises by gathering jute sacks laying these inside the room. He
lighted these, and as soon as the jute sacks began to burn, he ran away but the occupants of the
room put out the fire. What crime did Ong commit?
- Frustrated arson (similar with US vs Valdez)
➢ Jessie is the step father of Jean. One day, Jessie and Jean quarreled. Because of anger, Jessie put
the clothes of Jean in a luggage and burned them.
- not exempted, even if Jessie is the stepfather. Exemption does not apply to arson cases.
DEFINITION OF TERMS UNDER RA 9514
• Abatement - any act that would remove or neutralize a fire hazard
• Blasting Agent - any material or mixture consisting of a fuel and oxidizer used to set off explosives
• Curtain Board - a vertical panel of non-combustible or fire resistive materials attached to and
extending below the bottom chord of the roof trusses, to divide the underside of the roof into
separate compartments so that heat and smoke will be directed upwards to a roof vent.
• Cryogenic - any material which by its nature or as a result of its reaction with other elements
produces a rapid drop in temperature of the immediate surroundings.
• Damper - a normally open device installed inside an air duct system which automatically closes to
restrict the passage of smoke or fire.
• Distillation - process of first raising the temperature to separate the volatile from less volatile parts
and then cooling and condensing the resulting vapor to produce a nearly purified substance
• Duct System – a continuous passageway for the transmission of air
• Fire Trap - a building unsafe in case of fire because it will burn easily or because it lacks adequate
exits or fire escapes
• Fire Hazard - any condition or act which increases or may cause an increase in the probability of
the occurrence of fire, or which may obstruct, delay, hinder or interfere with firefighting operations
• Horizontal Exit - passageway from one building to another or through or around a wall in
approximately the same floor level.
• Jumper - a piece of metal used to bypass a safety device in an electrical system
• Pyrophoric - any substance that ignites spontaneously when exposed to air.
• Refining - a process where impurities are removed from a mixture to produce a pure element
• Self-Closing Doors - automatic closing doors designed to confine smoke and hear
• Vertical Shaft - an enclosed vertical space of passage that extends from floor to floor, as well as
from the base to the top of the building
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