Wildfire

These three factors form the basic wildland-fire environment. Vegetation type and moisture influence available fuel; wind, humidity, and other weather conditions can change fire behavior; and slope, aspect, and terrain can affect how fire advances. NWCG defines fire behavior in terms of how fire reacts to the influences of fuel, weather, and topography.

That depends on the expert's qualifications and the assignment. Reconstructing wildfire spread can help reconstruct progression and the relationship between the fire and a disputed location, but formal determination of the point of origin and ignition cause is a distinct investigative discipline. NIFC describes wildland fire investigation as specialized work using scientific methods to determine fire origin and cause.

Useful materials may include incident and progression maps, daily perimeter data, photographs and video, satellite or aerial imagery, weather records, fuel or vegetation information, suppression records, incident reports, property-condition records, and documents showing vegetation or fuel treatments before the event. Dated source data can be especially important because wildfire perimeters and site conditions can change as the incident progresses. NWCG data standards provide for daily and final wildfire perimeter polygons, while GeoOps guidance directs that the collection date and time of daily perimeter data be preserved.