TECHNOLOGY DETECTING IGNITION POINTS OF FIRE

[Anchor Lead]

Identifying the ignition point of a fire without surveillance cameras can be tricky. A fire fighter in Korea has developed a technology that can trace the ignition point using videos of the shadow of the blaze filmed from other locations.

[Pkg]

​This is the site of a fire experiment set that resembles an average household. When firewood is set on fire, the flames leave a shadow across the window. The shadow of the flames filmed from outside can be used to trace the ignition point of the blaze. The shadows of objects located around the fire are connected to find the point of intersection in a three-dimensional space. When the distance between the presumed and actual ignition points is measured the error margin is less than 30 cm. This method has been developed by a fire investigator with 12 years of experience. He came up with the idea after analyzing some 50 surveillance camera videos installed near the sites of fires whose ignition points were hard to find.

[Soundbite] NOH JUNG-MIN(CHEONAN SEOBUK FIRE STATION(DEVELOPER OF IGNITION POINT ANALYZING TECHNOLOGY)) : "If the height of a light reflection form can be measured and inserted in a conditional expression, the location of the ignition point in the given area can be identified."

The technology received a top prize at a fire investigation seminar of Chungcheongnam-do Province.

[Soundbite] CHOI HYUN-HO(FIRE INVESTIGATIONS SOCIETY OF KOREA) : "When the distance from the shadow of the flames is calculated, it turns out to be very close to the actual ignition point."

The Chungcheongnam-do Fire Station Headquarters also plan to develop a technology for tracing ignition points using the reflection angle of light.