Secrets of Fire Investigation
Fire is the only incident that burns its own evidence, which makes fire forensics one of the hardest fields of expert testimony. Turgut Cırgaoğlu — retired head of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Flammable & Combustible Materials division, who briefed the Turkish Parliament on the Aladağ dormitory fire — explains how he reads whether a fire was an accident or arson, why a glass of water on burning oil turns into a disaster, and how the mistakes that cost 12 lives could have been prevented.
The 30-Second Summary
- Never pour water on burning oil. As water turns to steam it expands more than a thousand-fold and carries burning oil droplets across the whole kitchen in an instant. The right move: turn off the heat and put the lid on.
- A fire’s origin is where it burned most — if the fuel load is even. There the expert looks for the ignition source: beading and severed conductors for electricity, smouldering for cigarettes, a sharp burn line for accelerants.
- Arson gives itself away: several points of origin with no ignition source, points in a closed room that went out for lack of oxygen and “stick out”, cracked floor tiles and henna-like stains.
- The Aladağ dormitory fire was preventable: outdated fuses, no residual-current device, untrained staff, the fire brigade called 12 minutes late, and an extinguisher said to be “out for refilling” that was nowhere to be found.
- In smoke, even minutes are too long. Carbon monoxide binds to blood hundreds of times more strongly than oxygen; when escaping, get low, crawl and breathe the clean air near the floor.
- A good expert report answers objections in advance: documents, scene examination, origin, alternative scenarios and mathematical fault percentages.
Why Is Pouring Water on Burning Oil a Disaster?
Burning oil is far hotter than water’s boiling point. Water poured onto it sinks, flashes into steam instantly and expands more than a thousand-fold. That sudden expansion throws burning oil droplets out as a fireball, and within seconds the fire jumps to the hood, the grease in the flue, curtains and packaging.
Discussing the Kartalkaya hotel fire, Cırgaoğlu stresses a simple fact: oil burning in a pan, if it is not spreading to anything, will burn, weaken and go out on its own. Put a large, wide pot lid over it and it is starved of oxygen and goes out immediately.
The question he asks the public is surprising: “Which is more dangerous — LPG or steam?” Everyone says gas. Yet liquid LPG expands roughly 250 times when it turns to gas, while water expands more than a thousand times when it turns to steam. Next to burning oil, water is the most dangerous substance in the kitchen.
If oil catches fire in a pan
- 01.Turn off the heat source.
- 02.Slide the pan’s lid — or a larger lid — over it.
- 03.No lid? Use a fire blanket rather than a wet cloth.
- 04.Don’t move the pan, and never use water or a water-based extinguisher on it.
- 05.Commercial kitchens should keep a Class F/K extinguisher and automatic suppression in the hood.
How Is a Fire’s Point of Origin Found?
Every fire rests on the fire triangle: fuel, air and a heat source that triggers them. Fuel and air are everywhere; the expert’s job is to find the trigger. The order Cırgaoğlu follows at a scene:
01 · Fire Triangle
Fuel and air are everywhere — what was the trigger?
02 · Where It Burned Most
With an even fuel load, where the fire burned longest is where it started
03 · V Pattern
Hot air rises: most heat goes up, the rest sideways
04 · Electrical Traces
A short-circuit arc exceeds copper’s melting point
05 · Sharp Line or Ramp?
A surface soaked in accelerant leaves a sharp burn boundary
06 · The Floor
Hose water cracks hot tiles; accelerant leaves stains
Result: Cause and Suspicion
Read together, these traces show whether the fire came from electricity, a cigarette or another heat source — or was set deliberately. The findings become an expert report on which the prosecutor, the court or the insurer proceeds.
Secrets of Fire Investigation: Why Is Water on Burning Oil a Disaster?
In this part, expert witness Turgut Cırgaoğlu explains the physics of oil fires, the fire triangle, how the origin is found from V patterns and electrical beading, the traces of arson, and real case files such as a truck fire near Şanlıurfa. (Video in Turkish.)
How Is Arson Detected?
According to Cırgaoğlu, suspicious fires reveal themselves: “When we look, we understand.” Wanting everything to burn before the fire brigade arrives and no evidence to remain, an arsonist often ignites several points. But fire doesn’t follow the arsonist’s plan.
Origins With No Ignition Source
A normal fire starts at a single point, and there is an ignition source at that point. Origin marks at several places with no electricity, cigarette or hot surface bring deliberate ignition to the fore.
- Several independent origins
- No ignition source at the origin
- No spread link between them
Points That Went Out and “Stick Out”
In a closed space, petroleum-based accelerants — the higher their carbon number — rapidly use up the oxygen in the air. Points ignited later can’t find enough oxygen, stay unburned and catch the expert’s eye.
- Half-burned accelerant traces
- Self-extinguishing in a closed room
- Leftover canister / packaging
Sharp Line, Cracked Tile, Stain
Wood soaked with accelerant shows a sharp, deep burn boundary. On concrete or tiled floors, hose water cracks the hot surface; cracks together with henna-like stains mean an accelerant was used.
- Sharp burn boundary
- Cracked floor tiles
- Henna-like stains
Real Case Files
“You Burned This Truck”
The driver said the truck caught fire while driving. Cırgaoğlu found a burn trace on the asphalt starting from a tyre: pronounced at the point of ignition, it weakened and disappeared further on. A tyre that ignites by itself burns harder as it heats up; this one never reached its ignition temperature. The accelerant had dissolved the asphalt and left melt pits. The wheels were removed: brake linings, drums and bearings were clean, with no seizing. The truck had been pulled over at the only spot along the road without a steel barrier.
Later inquiries showed the truck was loaded with old, broken spectacles bound for sale in Iraq. The technical traces pointed to one conclusion: accelerant had been poured on the tyre and the truck set alight deliberately.
A Fire With Five Separate Origins
In a small contract textile workshop, the fire had started at five separate points — and none had an ignition source: no electricity, not a smoking area, no machinery. Cırgaoğlu wrote in his report that “the fire is suspicious”.
The owner filed a criminal complaint against the expert over the report; the prosecutor disregarded it. The case proceeded at the Bakırköy court on the basis of that finding.
An Accident That Looked Suspicious: Mattress and Open Junction Box
A home damaged by fire had been repaired by a contractor appointed by the insurer. Saying he would “buy quality fittings”, the owner had the sockets and switches left off and the junction boxes left open. The same day he leaned a new mattress against the wall in the child’s room. Current from the open junction box arced to the mattress springs, ignited the fabric, and a second fire broke out in the same home.
A second fire naturally raised suspicion; the examination found not intent but an exposed electrical point. Not every suspicious-looking fire is arson; the traces decide.
Accidental Fires Can Surprise You Too
An expert’s job is not only to look for intent but also to show whether an accident was physically possible. Possibilities Cırgaoğlu has met in the field and is often asked about:
Ignition temperature: burning without a flame
Every material ignites by itself when it reaches its ignition temperature, even without a flame. Paper ignites at about 220–230 °C; paper tossed into an oven set to 220 °C shows it. Conversely, like damp wood that is hard to light in a stove, a material that can’t reach its ignition temperature won’t burn.
Static electricity ignites vapour, not liquid
Static electricity doesn’t set a flammable liquid alight directly, but in a closed space it can ignite flammable vapours that have reached their explosive limits. The riskiest moment is transferring a flammable liquid from one container to another.
Friction: cotton bales and metal straps
The metal straps on cotton bales in a truck body rub against the body with road vibration; the heat generated can ignite the cotton. Cırgaoğlu has examined several transport fires that started this way.
Non-explosion-proof equipment
Transferring flammable liquids with motors and pumps that are not explosion-proof (Ex-rated) where vapours are present can let a small spark ignite the vapour.
Surviving a Fire and the Bitter Lessons of Aladağ
The second part of the interview focuses on one of an expert’s heaviest cases: the Aladağ dormitory fire, in which 12 people died. Then: surviving smoke, the mistakes businesses make, and how an expert report is written.
How to Survive a Fire? The Bitter Truths of the Aladağ Dormitory Disaster
In part two, Turgut Cırgaoğlu describes what he found at the Aladağ dormitory fire and what he told the Turkish Parliament, how to escape smoke, the mistakes of businesses and inspectors, and how he writes an expert report. (Video in Turkish.)
The Aladağ Dormitory Fire: 12 Lives, Preventable Failures
On 29 November 2016, a fire at a girls’ dormitory in the Aladağ district of Adana, Turkey, killed 12 people, most of them students. Cırgaoğlu examined the scene and gave evidence to the Turkish Parliament. In his view the children “could easily have escaped” — but didn’t. The links in the chain:
- 01.
Old wiring, no protection
The dormitory used old porcelain “cup” fuses rewired by hand. There was no residual-current device, no circuit breaker and no automatic fuse. Students said the fuse would blow even when they were ironing.
- 02.
Not one short circuit, but two
Local assessments said the fire started at the ground-floor distribution board. Cırgaoğlu reasoned that if it had, the children should have escaped before it reached the second floor — and confirmed it on site: the cables entering the study room above the door showed fused, beaded and severed short-circuit marks.
- 03.
Flames at the door, girls at the window
Seeing flames at the doorway, the girls moved to the window side and waited, holding each other in twos and threes. They were overcome by smoke first. One student who jumped from the second floor survived because she landed on a plastic rubbish bin.
- 04.
Untrained, uncertified staff
The manager’s relatives, aged 18–20, brought in to work there had no Ministry of Education registration or teaching certificate. No one was with the children when the fire broke out.
- 05.
Fire brigade called 12 minutes late
The fire grew while staff were chatting downstairs, and the fire brigade was called 12 minutes late. According to Cırgaoğlu, a fire can grow beyond control within 3 minutes: a fire one bucket of water could put out then takes a tanker.
- 06.
No extinguisher, no invoice
Every item on the inspection forms was ticked “compliant”, yet there was no extinguisher in the dormitory that day. Staff said it had been “taken for refilling” but could show no invoice. The right practice is to bring the full extinguisher first and take the empty one away.
“You can replace a hotel, you can replace a home. You cannot bring a person back.”
Who was found at fault?
In Cırgaoğlu’s assessment, alongside the dormitory and its managers, fault was also assigned to the inspecting authority — the relevant provincial Education Directorate — which marked every item “compliant” without actually checking the wiring and equipment. His message to inspectors is clear: put your conscience first and act honestly.
Surviving Smoke: Get Low, Crawl, Get Out
Smoke rises with hot air and collects at the ceiling; as the ceiling layer fills, it descends. Clean air remains lowest. Cırgaoğlu’s advice is the army’s: get down and crawl out, breathing the clean air near the floor.
/// Cırgaoğlu likens fire to a living thing: it too feeds on oxygen, its food is fuel, and as oxygen falls it “weakens” and dies out.
Carbon monoxide: the blood poison
One of the most dangerous gases produced in fires is carbon monoxide. It binds to haemoglobin about 200–250 times more strongly than oxygen, forming carboxyhaemoglobin — popularly called “blood poison”. As it displaces oxygen in the blood, unconsciousness and death follow. According to Cırgaoğlu, you can stay in smoke for no more than 1–1.5 minutes.
What to do during a fire
- 01.Get low or crawl; breathe the clean air near the floor.
- 02.If you can’t get out, close the door and put wet towels under and around it.
- 03.Switch off the main fuse, close windows and doors; cut the flow of smoke and air.
- 04.Stay visible by a window and call the fire brigade, telling them where you are.
- 05.Cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel; avoid having to pass through smoke.
An Expert’s Advice for Businesses and Apartment Blocks
Cırgaoğlu’s summary: a 10,000-lira precaution not taken can cost 100,000, a million — and human lives. The gaps he finds most often in his reports:
Have your wiring inspected
Is there a residual-current device? Are cables sized for the load drawn? What state are the distribution boards in? Cables have a lifespan — at most 40 years, according to Cırgaoğlu. Maintenance and, where needed, replacement are essential.
Fire dampers in ventilation ducts
At a pharmaceutical company, a fire that started in the air-conditioning plant coated every instrument in the laboratory below with soot through the ventilation duct. There was no fire damper in the duct — and the company didn’t even know it needed one.
Seal floor penetrations in shafts
Shafts carrying electricity, internet, phone, gas and water lines act like chimneys in a building. Without fire-stopping at every floor penetration, smoke and hot gases pass straight between floors.
Two extinguishers per floor, at hand height
Apartment blocks can mount two extinguishers on every floor, on the wall at hand height. When a flat catches fire, opening the door and reaching for the extinguisher protects both that flat and the neighbours.
“Pat” the extinguisher
People in panic don’t see the extinguisher. In his training Cırgaoğlu recommends placing it where everyone passes daily and patting it each time, the way you would pat a child: the aim is to plant its location in the subconscious.
Is there water in the hose cabinet?
During his time as a director at İBB, at a business applying for a licence, they opened the fire hose cabinet and found no water — there wasn’t even a supply line to connect it to. The look was there, the system wasn’t. Installed systems must be tested regularly.
Don’t leave the emergency team on paper
A team of people listed by name but unable to respond is not a team. Who extinguishes, who rescues, who raises the alarm, who evacuates — they must be genuinely trained, equipped and drilled. In Istanbul traffic, the fire brigade cannot reach everywhere within minutes.
Hotels and malls: have an expert look
In a fire at night, sleeping guests know nothing and are poisoned by smoke. Places where many people gather should ask an expert “what are we missing?” and fix each gap one by one.
How Is a Fire Expert Report Written?
Having written thousands of reports, Cırgaoğlu fills in the same template for every case. The goal is a report that leaves no gap for the other side to object to. Its structure, for new experts:
- 1
Incident and party details
The address of the premises, the parties, and the date and times of the incident.
- 2
Documents examined
The fire brigade report, official records, the scene examination report and other documents in the file are listed one by one.
- 3
Scene examination
With an even fuel load, start where it burned most — where the fire began and burned longest — and look there for the ignition source.
- 4
Determining the cause
Electricity, cigarette, hot work, spontaneous ignition or intent: the report states, with reasons, which scenario the findings support.
- 5
Answering likely objections
Alternative scenarios the other side may raise are put into the report in advance, with an explanation of why they don’t hold. A sound report is one that leaves no room for objection.
- 6
Conclusion and fault percentage
The cause of the fire and the question of fault are concluded. Instead of “primary / secondary fault”, Cırgaoğlu gives mathematical ratios (such as 50–50 or 30–70), because insurers convert fault into money. Once the insurer pays out, it steps into the insured’s shoes (subrogation) and can recover from the party at fault.
Evidence warning
When scene-examination officers cut cable sections and take them away, they can destroy the evidence that a later court or insurance expert needs to see; many records just say “cable sample taken”. Cırgaoğlu cites a Kayseri case he has been unable to report on for 8 months because he cannot see the evidence. A fire scene must be preserved until the expert has examined it.
Fire Investigation Glossary
Short definitions of the key terms used in this guide:
- Fire triangle
- The combination of fuel, heat (an ignition source) and oxygen. Removing one — taking away fuel, cooling, or cutting off air — puts the fire out.
- Point of origin
- Where the fire started. With an even fuel load, it is the area that burned longest and deepest.
- V pattern
- A V-shaped mark on a wall near the origin, formed as heat and soot spread upward and outward.
- Beading
- A round, pin-head-like tip formed as copper melted in a short circuit cools; it shows an arc occurred in an energised circuit.
- Accelerant
- A flammable liquid used to start or rapidly spread a fire, such as petrol, thinner or solvent.
- Henna pattern
- A permanent stain and rust mark left on a floor where accelerant was poured, visible after debris is cleared; on asphalt it appears as melt pits.
- Ignition temperature
- The temperature at which a material ignites by itself without a flame. For paper it is about 220–230 °C.
- Carboxyhaemoglobin
- The compound formed when carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin; it blocks the blood’s oxygen transport (“blood poison”).
- Fire damper
- A flap in a ventilation duct that closes during a fire to stop flame and smoke travelling through the duct to other areas.
- Explosion-proof (Ex) equipment
- Electrical equipment designed not to cause ignition by spark or hot surface in explosive atmospheres.
- Subrogation and recourse
- The insurer that pays the claim legally takes over the insured’s rights (Turkish Commercial Code art. 1481) and recovers the amount from the party at fault.
“Fire is an event that destroys its own evidence as it burns. That is why fire investigation demands experience and careful examination. Neither fire nor life is a joke.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if you pour water on burning oil?+
How do investigators find where a fire started?+
How is arson detected?+
What does beading on an electrical cable indicate?+
Can static electricity start a fire?+
Why did so many people die in the Aladağ dormitory fire?+
How long can you survive in smoke during a fire?+
How is the fault percentage set in a fire expert report?+
Check Today: 8 Points
The gaps Cırgaoğlu finds most often in his reports — most can be fixed at small cost.
Turgut Cırgaoğlu
Graduate of Yıldız Technical University; former head of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Flammable & Combustible Materials division. He has given expert opinions as a court-appointed expert and loss-adjusting specialist in many of Turkey’s major fires, including the Aladağ dormitory fire, and briefed the Turkish Parliament. He has written thousands of fire reports and still examines cases.