NFPA 921 report writing, without the blank page

NFPA 921, the Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, sets the structure and the scientific method behind a defensible origin-and-cause report. This page walks through what each section contains, and how Car56 assembles that report from the notes you take at the scene.

What an NFPA 921 report contains

A complete fire investigation report moves in a deliberate order, from administrative facts to the investigator's opinions. Car56 produces every section below, in sequence.

1. Administrative information

Case and incident numbers, dates, the address, the agency and unit, and the investigator of record. The facts that identify the assignment.

2. Scope of the assignment

What you were asked to determine, and the limits of the examination.

3. Methodology

A statement that the investigation followed the scientific method as described in NFPA 921: recognize the need, define the problem, collect data, analyze it, form and test a hypothesis, and select a final hypothesis.

4. Scene and structure description

The building, the vehicle, or the area involved, and the conditions on arrival.

5. Examination of the scene

Exterior and interior observations, documented factually and supported by photographs.

6. Fire pattern analysis

The burn indicators and patterns you observed, described without leaping to a conclusion the evidence does not support.

7. Witness and occupant information

Occupants, residents, and witnesses, with their statements attributed to them.

8. Evidence collected

Physical evidence and samples, and how they were handled.

9. Area of origin, cause, and classification

The determinations you reached, to a reasonable degree of professional certainty, or a clear statement that a determination remains undetermined.

10. Opinions and conclusions

Your opinions, followed by a signature block. This is the investigator's section, and yours alone.

Car56 never determines origin or cause

NFPA 1033 places the origin, the cause, and the classification with the certified investigator. Car56 documents what you observed and states the determinations you provided. It never supplies a cause you did not reach, and where a determination is undetermined, it says so.

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