Unit VI Essay
Columbia Southern University
Introduction to Fire Prevention
There are many causes of a structure fire. The once that I picked are cooking fires and
outside fires. I feel that in my community, we have a high number of calls mostly involving
the elderly and cooking. Along with these calls we also have numerus calls involving children
that are unsupervised while cooking. The Nation Fire Protection Agency states “US fire
departments responded to an estimated average of 172,900 home structure fires per year
started by cooking activities in 2014-2018”. (Ahrens, 2020). We also have a lot of calls for
outside fire due to the nice weather in South Carolina. “During 2011-2015, local fire
departments responded to an estimated average of 306,000 brush, grass, and forest fires per
year, an average of 840 fires per day.” (Ahrens, 2018). Some of these fire turn into large scale
wildland fires, destroying acers of forests and grasslands.
With the cooking fires, after the fire department extinguished, my cause and origin
investigation would include doing a three hundred and sixty degree walk around the
structure and see what the extension of the damage is. As I walk into the structure, I look for
a “V” pattern, which would tell me the area of origin. Also, I’m looking at what was
cooking on the range oven or was cooking utensils were used. Along with interior
investigation I would also look for smoke patterns to determine the cause and/or origin. The
stove itself would also tell a story. I would investigate if the stove was shut off as an attempt
of acting to turn off hoping of taking the heating element from the fire. Depending on the
occupants of the incident, I would interview witness or homeowners about the incident. If
it’s the elderly I would ask if they fell asleep or walked away and forgot to come back to the
stove and finish cooking. If children are suspected in this, I would ask the kids were they
cooking anything. My cause and origin for outside is very much the same as the cooking fire
Columbia Southern University
Introduction to Fire Prevention
There are many causes of a structure fire. The once that I picked are cooking fires and
outside fires. I feel that in my community, we have a high number of calls mostly involving
the elderly and cooking. Along with these calls we also have numerus calls involving children
that are unsupervised while cooking. The Nation Fire Protection Agency states “US fire
departments responded to an estimated average of 172,900 home structure fires per year
started by cooking activities in 2014-2018”. (Ahrens, 2020). We also have a lot of calls for
outside fire due to the nice weather in South Carolina. “During 2011-2015, local fire
departments responded to an estimated average of 306,000 brush, grass, and forest fires per
year, an average of 840 fires per day.” (Ahrens, 2018). Some of these fire turn into large scale
wildland fires, destroying acers of forests and grasslands.
With the cooking fires, after the fire department extinguished, my cause and origin
investigation would include doing a three hundred and sixty degree walk around the
structure and see what the extension of the damage is. As I walk into the structure, I look for
a “V” pattern, which would tell me the area of origin. Also, I’m looking at what was
cooking on the range oven or was cooking utensils were used. Along with interior
investigation I would also look for smoke patterns to determine the cause and/or origin. The
stove itself would also tell a story. I would investigate if the stove was shut off as an attempt
of acting to turn off hoping of taking the heating element from the fire. Depending on the
occupants of the incident, I would interview witness or homeowners about the incident. If
it’s the elderly I would ask if they fell asleep or walked away and forgot to come back to the
stove and finish cooking. If children are suspected in this, I would ask the kids were they
cooking anything. My cause and origin for outside is very much the same as the cooking fire
