What are fire patterns?

Fire patterns are the physical manifestation of the effects of fire on materials, illustrating how fire has moved and acted within a space. These patterns include charring, discoloration, and the presence of burn marks on various surfaces, which can help investigators determine the origin and cause of a fire.

By studying the unique characteristics of these patterns, fire investigators can gather valuable evidence about the fire's behavior, such as the heat intensity and the direction of the fire spread. This understanding is crucial when reconstructing the fire's development and evaluating possible ignition sources.

The other choices do not encapsulate what fire patterns represent in the context of fire investigation. For example, a specific type of combustion residue, such as soot or ash, refers to the remnants left after a fire has burned, but it does not represent the broader visual indicators that fire patterns provide. Similarly, classifications of fire extinguishing agents focus on methods to combat fires, and methods for detecting fire sources pertain to identifying where the fire started rather than analyzing the effects of fire itself.