3D Laser Scanning Used For Fire Investigations

Who started the fire

Have you ever been driving down the street and seen a plume of smoke in the distance.  Most likely you have. Moments later you hear the fire sirens begin to whirr. The first thing someone usually says is “Must be a fire!” Who knows what caused it. It could have been a candle that fell over.  It could have been a grease fire that someone didn’t know how to put out properly.  Possibly it wan an electrical device that caught fire when the residents were away.  Most likely it was an accidents. There is, though, an instance where a house catching on fire is not an accident. Sometimes fires are caused by arson.  Someone intentionally sets a house on fire to collect insurance money or they do so for some other sinister purpose. When ever such things happen, it is up to the investigators to determine the cause. Now to help with that investigation is 3D laser scanning services.

It does it better

3D laser scanning services has helped fire investigations tremendously. What was once a tedious process of doing tape measure work of the fire scenes, has with 3D laser scanning become a simple easy process. This is good news for forensics officers. Traditional investigation methods take time and are not as thorough as 3D laser scanning. The old way of doing things requires hours of laborious data collection, and even then things will be overlooked. It also cost more to have those workers out there collecting that data. 3D laser scanning services, on the other hand, does a quick thorough scan of the scene.

What makes it better

Using 3D technology to capture a fire scene has some big advantages over manual data collection. A 3D laser scan can capture the details of a scene and be analyzed after the scene has been tampered with. Digital models of the incident scene can be scrutinized over and over, while traditional data collection is a one time deal. Once the fire scene has been abandoned and weather and people have affected the reliability of any evidence remaining, no more investigation can be done. Also, the speed at which the data collected makes compromised evidence less likely. Forensic scientists can come in and in a rather short time, collect all of the data they need. Another advantage of 3D laser scanning is that the data can be used in a court of law as evidence. No longer do the judges and jurors need to rely on the testimony of forensic officers and their measurements, but they can look at the raw visual data themselves to come to their own conclusions. 

The best for the job

Most likely those fires that burn down houses and office buildings are caused by people simply neglecting safety precautions. Some of them, though, are not. It is, therefore, necessary that we have the best skills possible put to the task to find out what caused it. It looks like 3D laser scanning services and 3D printing services are the best guys for the job.

Keep reading: more articles about 3D scanning

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