Fire scenes are generally regarded by crime scene investigators (CSIs) as forming a homogenous group of scene types and are frequently inferred as such in their treatment by the authors of standard works.^1,2  The approach to such a broad range of scenes is limited and controlled by a requirement to work as closely as possible to a model of best forensic practice, and to address the legal requirements of exhibit continuity and integrity, ensuring that the CSI can account for the location of the exhibit from the scene of recovery to the courtroom,³  as well as the scientific concerns of contamination of evidence.⁴  Fire scenes entail an array of different scene types loosely joined as a heterogenous group by the effect of fire, heating or explosion. The nature of fire cause, development and resolution, together with the points required to be proven and the other factors present at the scene (human remains, electrical and chemical hazards or evidence of other criminality), all serve to make fire scenes one of the most varied and challenging ‘types’ of forensic investigation. While the heart of criminal fire investigation is the science-based consideration of intentionality of cause, by conceiving of fire investigation purely in terms of ‘arson or not’, integration with the wider aspects of fire investigation, frequently performed by other experts, is challenged by an organisational and epistemological hiatus.