National Repository of Grey Literature 2 records found  Search took 0.00 seconds. 
Special case of burning people
PETRÁK, Martin
In the Czech Republic, as well as in other countries, there are cases of fires reported, where the thermal destruction of the body of the victim is not a result of thermal effects of a fire of the surrounding space. These fires are typical for the affected area that is limited to the body and the immediate surroundings only. Frequently the bodies show extensive and complete thermal destruction of tissues to high levels of carbonization. Human tissue combustion appears in foreign sources, especially popular science, described with the term "Spontaneous Human Combustion". In the Czech Republic the translation equivalent is "samovolné vzplanutí osob". The motivation for the choice of the topic "Special Cases of Human Combustion" was the lack of adequate fire origin investigation methodology to be used by the members of the Fire and Rescue Service of CR. The other reason for the choice of the topic was the misleading information published in popular science sources and alternative information sources. The first step of the research was the literature research of the available professional texts and specific fire reports. Based on information gathered was designed scope and conditions of a research experiment conducted on samples of the same type of animal tissue, which corresponds to the human tissue. For the samples the tissue of a domestic pig was used and the samples were prepared to contain uniform percentages of muscle, fat and bone, including skin. The experiment was carried out in an accredited laboratory owned by the company PAVÚS, a.s. - fire testing laboratory #1026 in Veselí nad Lužnicí. With each sample the influence of different flammable substances on the level of subsequent damage of the animal tissue was tested. The influence of typical layered clothing, flammable base and cover was evaluated. Different real environment conditions were simulated with each sample. The aim of the thesis was an evaluation of the possibility of a start and the process of combustion of animal tissue. It was confirmed that the combustion of animal tissue, including bone tissue, is possible in a regular fire. The flammable materials in the form of clothing and the presence and the characteristics of a flammable base are crucial for the start and process of the combustion. The experiment revealed the possibility of further independent combustion of the tissue when supplied with a certain amount of initial energy by burning of the surrounding materials. The combustion of animal tissue characterically takes predominantly the form of smouldering lasting several hours, where the maximal measured temperature of the surface of the sample was 644,50 oC. The experiment further revealed the temperatures of the human tissue combustion not to be high enough to cause an ignition of flammable materials within defined distance. The results of the thesis can be used to define the basic guidelines for the members of Fire and Rescue Service of CR and the criminal justice, who can provide support with investigation of the causes of these types of fires of persons.
The Effect on Cause of Fire by Weather Conditions
PETRÁK, Martin
The aim of this work is to assess the possible effects of meteorological conditions on the causes of fires (The Effect of Weather Conditions on Causes of Fire). At present great emphasis is put on the investigation of the causes of fire while detecting human or technical failure or the combination of the two. Meteorological influences are given less importance but in many cases they are the cause of technical failures, although often indirect. Under normal operating conditions, the burning process occurs when three basic conditions meet: there are flammable substances, oxidation and initiatory temperature. The direct cause means the impact of the initial temperature and the indirect cause means affecting the flammable substance or material itself and oxidation. As for the direct effects of meteorological conditions, only fires caused by lightning strikes are evaluated as the direct cause of fires in the statistics of Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. Based on technical literature and findings of fire examiners from Fire Rescue Service of South Bohemia, we can easily conclude that fires can easily be started by direct sunlight and relatively simple optical elements. Indirect impact of weather conditions means a wide range of specific conditions which may affect flammable substances or oxidizing agents. On one hand there are specific conditions that affect technical and technological ageing and depreciation, such as extreme temperatures, both in summer and winter, rainfall, wind, and so on. On the other hand, weather conditions also affect activities and behaviour of people during the year. The research was based on monitoring the direct and indirect influence of weather conditions on the occurrence of fires in South Bohemia between the years 2009 and 2013. The findings were used to identify possible fire prevention strategies and to make it easier to identify certain weather conditions which may lead to a fire.The facts used in this thesis are based on technical literature monitoring the issue of fire protection, specialized literature from meteorology and climatology of the Czech Republic, Fire Rescue Service statistics and output from real-life fires which mainly occurred on the territory of the South Bohemia region.

See also: similar author names
1 Petrák, Matěj
2 Petrák, Milan
6 Petrák, Miroslav
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