VIDEO: The Peoria Fire Department showed the public how they tackle fires during their third live burn demonstration in April.
More than 30 attendees, mostly insurance adjusters, participated in the live burn demonstration at the Peoria Fire Academy in Peoria.
“The important thing they will take away from it is how fast a fire grows or doesn’t grow. And how does it grow with extra ventilation, with no ventilation and things like that,” said Brad Pierson, arson investigator at Peoria Fire Department.
Pierson said fires double in size every minute, then keep compounding. To determine the cause of the fire, investigators look at the makeup of the house or car, location, weather, time of day, videos and fire patterns.
“Everything leaves a pattern that burns. Then we can look at that and determine the area of origin,” he said.