Gas and Electricity Adviser

Who they are & What they do in a fire investigation

Gas and electricity advisers are present at a scene after the fire has taken place, they have an important role in the protection of the other member of different agencies that may want to view the scene. Part of their role is that they must enter before many of the other agencies go in, this is because they are there to help assess the building of potential hazards. They would have to wear protective outfits with all of the suitable safety accessories such as a face/gas mask to keep them safe from any harm. The role of the gas and electricity adviser in a fire investigation is to enter the crime scene and first of all assess the building that they are entering to make sure that it is safe. They do this to search for things that may cause other people avoidable harm, in terms of what they are examining they are looking for potential dangerous gas or electricity that could still be present as a result of the fire. 
Gas advisers help turn off any potential gas pipes that are at the scene to prevent any lethal excess gas exiting, the electricity advisers role is to go and help turn off the electricity in the area to prevent anything like a loose or live wire causing any problems. During a fire scene they may also help enlighten what the cause of the fire was, the gas and electricity advisers will be able to asses if the gas & electricity was working properly in the area or whether it was either old and in need of replacement or in fact suffered a malfunction. A common fire starter is a faulty plug which the electricity adviser would be able to clearly spot, this is very important because if the advisers found anything that was faulty then they could help the police rule out arson. The involvement of the gas and electricity advisers is very beneficial in a fire scene, one of the reasons being is that they are there to ensure the scene is safe to enter. The advisers may have to enter a fire scene before the majority of other agencies and this is because they have to asses whether it is in fact safe to enter, this makes them a very good agency as they put themselves before others to make sure that the following parties avoid any necessary hazards. They are also beneficial to an investigation because they can help the investigators on the case of the fire, they could determine whether the fire was caused by either a faulty plug or a faulty boiler etc. This could really help in assisting the police so that no unnecessary time is wasted and so that they can use this information as their focus of the investigation.