How to determine fire liability when the cause of the fire is unknown

1. Several situations in which the cause of the fire in this case is unknown

Fire accidents are different from ordinary criminal cases in that they have special characteristics. Fire scenes are easily destroyed. This and the destructive effect often cause the fire scene to destroy the trace evidence that can reflect the fire location, fire point, fire object and fire source, resulting in new trace evidence being left on the basis of the original trace evidence. trace evidence, thus making the fire scene more complicated; during the fire investigation process, it is a reverse reasoning process to reproduce the occurrence process of the fire. During the reasoning process, because trace evidence is destroyed or burned, the reasoning process is easily blocked and interrupted, which reflects the concealment of the causal relationship between the occurrence of the fire and the cause of the fire. This, together with the complexity and concealment of fire scenes, has brought many difficulties to the investigation of fire causes. Even in some fire scenes, it is not easy to find trace evidence of the cause of the fire, so the cause of the fire is unknown.

1. The fire scene was destroyed

The fire scene refers to the specific place where the fire occurred and all places where traces and evidence related to the fire are left. The fire scene is damaged in many aspects, mainly caused by: the destructive effect of the fire itself, fire fighting, and man-made damage.

2. The fire point is clear, but the fire source and fire objects are unclear

Usually, the most severely burned part of the fire is the fire point. According to the investigation report of the fire that occurred in the early morning of July 9, 2007 by the Fuzhou Cangshan District Public Security Fire Brigade, although the fire point was determined to be at the defendant's premises, the fire point was 50 centimeters away from the plaintiff's company. However, it was not found out who was responsible for the fire. The following conditions must be met to constitute liability for a fire accident: (1) The perpetrator must have violated relevant laws, regulations, rules and technical specifications. If any of the above violations cause a fire, the person responsible for the fire shall bear the responsibility for the fire. (2). There must be subjective fault in the behavior. That is, causing a fire intentionally or negligently.

2. The cause is unknown. Whether the defendant is liable for the plaintiff’s economic losses

There is always a certain reason for the occurrence of fire. However, due to the complexity and destructiveness of fire scenes and the concealment of fire evidence, not every fire can cause its cause to be identified. So, "When the cause of the fire is unknown, can the fire liability be determined?" This is a controversial topic faced by current fire investigations, and it can also be said to be a difficult problem. Regarding this issue, the author believes that since the fire department determined that the cause of the fire was unknown and did not hold anyone responsible for the fire, the defendant should not be liable for the plaintiff's economic losses.