Wood is one of the most common material found in homes and industrial fires, particularly in Malaysia. The abundance of different types of wood used to build structures, frames, furniture and others are important to take note as wood is a conducive material that can be used to initiate and propagate a fire, particularly in forensic fire cases. This study was conducted to provide the volatile chemical fingerprint of burnt Merbau (Intsia sp.) wood using gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS). The wood samples were prepared under two conditions; fully dried and partially dried. Six study replications of each condition were burnt outdoors and underwent an extraction process using activated carbon tablets. The tablets were incubated in an oven for 16 hours at 80ºC. Next, the tablets were desorbed in two different types of solvent; pentane and ethanol. The pentane- and ethanol-desorbed volatile products were then introduced into the GC-MS. Volatile organic compounds obtained across both conditions were in the range of volatile acids, aromatics and its derivatives, D-glucopyranose, phenolic derivatives and cycloalkane. The compounds emitted by fully and partially dried Merbau wood samples were similar, differing only in the absence of malonic acid and succinic acid in partially dried Merbau wood samples. Both solvents desorbed different types of volatile compounds. The burning behaviour of partially dried Merbau wood were different to those documented from fully dried Merbau wood and is attributed to the composition of wood rather than the dry or wet conditions.
Fibres are important trace evidence that can be found during the course of crime scene investigation. The identification and analysis of these fibres shed light as to the circumstances surrounding a particular crime. Identifying the factors that affect the transference of fibres under various environments are crucial in providing robust conclusions of a case per se, as highlighted in this work. Donor garments were made up of four different types of fibre; 100% cotton, 100% nylon, 100% polyester and 100% wool, that were used to observe the differences in the number of transferred fibres to the recipient garment (100% cotton) and vice versa with increasing contact times of 30, 60, 180, and 300 seconds respectively. To simulate contact between the donor garment worn by a suspect and the recipient garment worn by a victim in real-life situations, the donor garment was placed on top of the recipient garment which was laid on a piece of plywood. The numbers of transferred fibres, both from the donor to the recipient garment and from the recipient to the donor garment were observed and tested using microscopic examination, burning test, solubility test and dye extractability test. Results indicated that different types of garments transferred different number of fibres with increasing contact times, and the identification of the fibres are possible via the different tests applied in this work.