Riverside police

After the fire was put out, the scene was a mess.

Trying to find the cause of the fire from an unrecognizable fire scene is simply as difficult as climbing to the sky!

Everyone investigated inside bit by bit, and the inspected area was cleared by officers and soldiers of the Chonggang Fire Brigade. When they reached the third floor, the scene was horrific. Eleven corpses were almost burned to black coke, crowded in front of the fire door on the east side of the corridor!

The death toll has exceeded the city's authority to investigate the accident.

After Yuan Zhi called Bureau Chen to report, he immediately ordered the investigation to be suspended. All six investigators, including Han Yu, returned downstairs to stand by.

After sleeping for about four and a half hours in a military vehicle parked outside the fire scene, leaders from the Jiangnan Provincial Public Security Department and Jiangnan Provincial Fire Brigade arrived.

The provincial leaders, accompanied by Secretary Chen, Bureau Chen and other leaders, inspected the scene. After listening to the reports from Bureau Chen and Yuan Zhi, they immediately ordered the deputy chief of the fire brigade to organize the accompanying fire experts to conduct an investigation, and ordered Han Yu and six other people to assist.

The first thing to do was to find the cause and point of the fire, but the scene was in a mess, and the team leaders and several experts were helpless for a while.

In terms of fire intensity, ship fires are more intense than shore fires because there is a large amount of oil on the burning ship.

Han Yu has not only put out ship fires, but has also participated in ship fire accident investigations more than once. His experience is as rich as several experts from the province. He suggested: "Mr. Jiao, the scene has been burned like this. It seems that the only way is to use the elimination method." .”

Vice Captain Jiao looked around and asked, "How to rule it out?"

Han Yu checked the fire inspection materials with the investigating police officer of the Binjiang Fire Brigade at night, and read the transcripts made when questioning the slightly injured in the early morning. He knew the situation at the fire scene better than the leaders of the corps and the provincial experts. He said without hesitation: "This bathing center It was newly renovated, and all the wires and lines were replaced. They were all brand new. We also asked people who escaped at night. Those who escaped from the first floor said that there was a fire on the second floor. They heard exclamations or smelled something. The burning smell came out afterward.

The guests and waiters who jumped from the window on the second floor and later came down from the ladder built by the Binjiang Port Fire Brigade almost unanimously said that there was a fire in the corridor next to the second floor. The fire was very strong, the smoke was billowing, and the fire door of the fire escape was in danger. If you can't open it, you can only jump out of the window. "

"Continue." Vice Captain Jiao led everyone to the two burned-out boxes at the entrance of the corridor on the second floor.

"When I came in for inspection in the morning, I carefully inspected the two boxes, the distribution box on the second floor, and the wires in the PVC pipes of the two boxes. I found no fire points. I can basically rule out the aging of the wires and lines."

"Lao Gu, go and take a look again."

"good."

Vice Captain Jiao looked around, turned around and said, "Comrade Han Yu, continue your analysis."

"yes!"

Han Yu calmed down and continued: "The second reason is the weather. I called the Meteorological Bureau at night. The Meteorological Bureau said that although it was winter in Binjiang, there was thunder yesterday evening. It is difficult to say whether the bathing center suffered a lightning strike, but this The bathing center is a three-story building with a height of only 15 meters. The two buildings next door are taller than here, and the office building across the road is taller, which can also eliminate the possibility of lightning strikes."

According to common sense, lightning strikes will hit tall buildings first and are less likely to hit short buildings in the middle.

Vice Captain Jiao nodded, thinking that Han Yu's analysis made sense.

At this time, Gu Gong, who had just gone to survey the line, turned back and said: "Mr. Jiao, I found the nails used to fix the fuse in the power outage protector. I didn't find any traces on the nails that caused the wires to short-circuit due to electric shock."

"Photograph."

"yes!"

"Comrade Huaxing, call the meteorological department and ask Chonggang District whether there were any lightning strikes in Binjiang, especially in Chonggang District last night!"

"yes!"

Han Yu waited for Mr. Jiao to finish the order to Yuan Zhi, and took Mr. Jiao and the three experts to the window, looked down and said: "The bath water in the bathhouse on the first floor of the bathing center is heated by steam. The boiler room that produces steam It was not in the same building behind the bathing center. Although the boiler room was in a mess by fire water, there was no fire in the boiler room.

Through visits and inquiries at night and preliminary surveys in the morning, we can basically rule out the possibility of fire caused by sparks floating from the chimney of the boiler room. Because the weather is relatively cold, the windows on the side of the bathing center facing the boiler room are all closed so that sparks cannot come in. Even if sparks drift to the window, the possibility of causing a fire is minimal. "

"Xiao Miao, what do you think?"

"Report to Mr. Jiao, we have asked the people who escaped, and they all said that the fire started from inside the bathing center. We also inspected the wall facing the boiler room in the morning and found no traces of fire."

"Comrade Han Yu, please continue your analysis."

"OK."

Han Yu led everyone back to the corridor and analyzed in detail: "I understand that there were a lot of people in the bathing center last night, but they were distributed in the lobby, locker room, bathtub and lobby on the second floor, as well as on the third floor. Boxes. They are distributed in every corner, so when a fire breaks out, the time they notice the flames must be different, and the escape directions will not be consistent."

Han Yu took out the notes he took in the morning and took a look at it, then continued: "According to the situation analysis from the interviews, the location of the fire point is very strange. The guests in the lobby on the second floor said that there was a fire in the corridor, and they could only jump out of the window. But the corridor was not There weren't many combustibles or even electrical wiring.

We also inspected the two private rooms on this side of the corridor on the third floor just now, and we found no trace of the first fire. However, the bodies of those who failed to escape on the third floor were crowded at the other end of the corridor. This shows that there is only one possibility, that is, there is only one fixed point of fire, and in the early stage of the fire, the intensity of the fire was extremely high, prompting people to fire in different directions. People invariably flocked to the place farthest from the fire, which eventually led to the deaths of people on the third floor being in the same place. "

A fire in the corridor is unlikely.

Although there was carpet on the stairs, the carpet was indeed burned. However, it takes a while for the carpet to catch fire. It is impossible for the fire to be extremely powerful just after it breaks out!

Where did the fire start?

The entire bathing center has turned into a scorched earth, leaving only the traces of the charred corpse of the victim at the end of the corridor.

Years of experience in investigating fire scenes have made Deputy Captain Jiao know clearly that people's instinct is to stay away from the point of fire, and the direction behind the victims trapped at the end of the corridor on the third floor is most likely the point of fire.

Based on the information provided by Han Yu, he decided to use the stupidest method to investigate and analyze.

They asked everyone to use chalk to form a line according to the direction the victims' backs were facing and the escape direction provided by the escapee. As a result, everyone's escape direction pointed to a common point, that is, the second and third floors. The stairs between!

Judging from this, the corridor entrance was the point of fire.

Those victims used their bodies to form a tragic "human pointer" in the ashes.

Everyone was busy all afternoon and focused their investigation on the stairwell again. They turned on electric lights and used infrared spectrum and ultraviolet spectrum in square centimeter units to carefully search for the smoke and dust on the walls, the carbon dust left on the site, and the residue left on the stairwell. The wreckage, leaving no clues behind.

While he was extremely busy, news came over the intercom that the leader of the Changhang Public Security Bureau had arrived.

No need to ask, you know that the Changhang Public Security Bureau will also arrange for fire experts to participate in the investigation. Deputy Captain Jiao put the walkie-talkie in his pocket and said without thinking: "We are busy with our work, the provincial leaders are waiting for the report."

"yes!"

"Mr. Jiao, Bureau Han, what is this?" Staff Miao of the Binjiang Fire Department dug out a small piece of something from the ashes and picked it up carefully.

Han Yu walked over, knelt down, took a look, and said, "This is a piece of patent leather, it should be from the stair handle."

"Patent leather, impossible."

Staff Miao stood up and looked at the charred stair handrail, then at the small piece of unburned patent leather in his hand, and murmured: "The two ends are scorched, but the middle end is intact. Even the color didn’t change much. Why was everything on site burned clean, except for this piece of patent leather at the entrance of the stairs?”

This detail, which may be overlooked in the eyes of others, may well point the way to the case...

Han Yu's eyes lit up and he said eagerly: "Mr. Jiao, can you organize more efforts to ask the people who escaped first? It's best to ask the survivors closest to the fire if they smelled gasoline when they discovered the fire. taste?"

"Comrade Han Yu, are you saying someone set the fire on fire?"

"Staff Miao is right. Why was everything on site burned cleanly, except for the paint on the stair handrail? There is only one reason, and that is caused by 'jumping' burning!"

During the fire investigation, it is indeed necessary to pay attention to whether there is a "jump" burning phenomenon.

The occurrence of such a phenomenon means that something easy to burn is sprinkled on the object. In this case, a combustion accelerant is most likely used!

Combustion accelerants are very common in life, and alcohol and gasoline are the most common combustion accelerants. Moreover, from the mouths of survivors, many people mentioned that when the fire broke out, there was "extremely large black smoke and flames that made it difficult to see the direction."

How could it be "extremely large" without a combustion accelerant?

Deputy Captain Jiao realized the seriousness of the problem and ordered: "Comrade Huaxing, immediately organize people to go to the hospital to inquire about the survivors! Lao Gu and Xiaomiao, hurry up and take samples of the ash and dust at the stairwell to see if it contains any Contains combustion accelerants!”

"yes!"

"Mr. Jiao, the Binjiang Municipal Bureau has several laboratories, and the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Technical Identification Center has the testing capabilities in this area."

"This is best, Xiaomiao, you are responsible for sending it for inspection."

…

At 9:36 p.m., police officers who went to the hospital to investigate reported that three survivors who jumped out of the second-floor window to escape said they vaguely smelled the smell of gasoline.

At 10:48, the Municipal Bureau’s Criminal Technology Center conducted a comprehensive multi-angle inspection and analysis of the dust submitted for inspection and confirmed that the dust in the corridor did contain combustion accelerants.

Everything points to not an accidental fire, but man-made arson!

Vice Captain Jiao quickly called to report to the provincial and department leaders, while Yuan Zhi was busy calling to report to Bureau Chen.

Although the Changhang Branch Bureau is responsible for the lack of strict fire supervision and management, it is now confirmed that the fire was caused by man-made arson. Even if the superiors investigate the responsibility, they will not be as strict as if it were an accidental fire.

The leaders and colleagues in his old unit narrowly passed the test. Han Yu felt relieved and took the mobile phone from Staff Miao. As soon as he turned it on and was about to call his senior to make sure he was safe, Wei Zhi actually called.

"Xianyu, are you at the fire scene?"

"exist."

"Were you involved in the fire incident investigation?"

"participated."

"Director Chen said that you determined that the fire was man-made, causing so many casualties and economic losses. This case will be taken over by our criminal police detachment. I am on the way to the fire scene. I am confused now. You participated in the investigation of the cause of the fire accident. In the end, If you understand the situation, can you provide me with some clues?”

Arson cases are different from other criminal cases.

The scene was burned into a mess, and it was difficult to collect clues for a while.

Han Yu can understand the old commander's mood at this moment. After all, this is a murder case with heavy casualties and must be solved in the shortest possible time, otherwise he will not be able to explain it to his superiors and subordinates.

"Uncle Wei, wait a minute, I'll go back to the scene and take a look."

"What are you looking at?"

"Simulation, now we can only simulate it."

"Okay, I'll wait for your news."

The old commander felt uneasy after thinking about it, so he simply said: "Xianyu, the fire investigation is over. You are no longer a fire expert in the fire investigation team. I will call Director Chen to ask for instructions and a report." You join the task force and participate in the investigation of arson cases as a fire expert!"