HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION AND FORENSICS

FIRE TECHNOLOGY AND ARSON INVESTIGATION

REPORT
Group 2 (CM-402)

I. Early uses of fire by mankind

II. Fire in early civilization
III. Early fire making techniques
IV. Ancient Greeks use of fire

MEMBERS:
Alfonso, Janeen G.
Baldon, Keeshia
Barnes, Manuel
Baquing, Romz
Naceno, Marlon
Nacu, Christian
Pangilinan, Menard
Perez, Arturo
Tayag, Luke
Vesoyo, June Paul
 I. EARLY USES OF FIRE BY MANKIND

Homo erectus- is the first one to use a fire;

-Species of human. Originated in Africa

By the use of fire, the Homo Erectus adapt to their new environment, by providing
Light, heat, and protection from dangerous animals

Earliest use of fire by humans may have occurred as early as 1.4 million years ago
Fire was used to protect their young, and it tightened their family bonds. It was also
used to cook their foods.

Homo Sapiens- Modern humans; all other living human beings belong to the homo
sapiens.
Homo Neandertals- Near relatives of the Homo sapiens. Both Neanderthals and living
humans are thought to have evolved from Homo erectus.

Fire was also used to make weapons.

II. FIRE IN EARLY CIVILIZATION

Fire was used to make better weapons in times of war.

Religion- they use fire for rituals.

Vesta- Roman goddess of heart and fire; to honor her the high priest of the Roman
religion periodically choose 6 priestesses called Verstal virgins to keep the fire.

Fire in early days usually required much time because of the weather. The weather on the
early days was called adverse weather.

Adverse weather conditions such as rain, fog, ice, snow, and dust.
Artisans- used fire to make bricks and pottery
Wood houses- this is where ancient people live, and it has fireplace in the center. They
also lived in the cave.
Tenements in Rome and Athens- are heated with braziers.
Tenements- a room or a set of rooms forming a separate residence within a house or
block of apartments.
Braziers- metal pans that held charcoal fires.
Ancient people began using candles made of yarn in 2000 BC or dry rushes dipped with
animal fat.
 Egyptians and Greeks- introduced floating wicks; Oil lamp with an animal or vegetable
oil.
Lamp- remained the basic source of light with the use of gas and kerosene.
Fire is essential in metal working that was developed in 4000 BC
Hearth- the floor of a fireplace. This contained a hole to collect the hot liquid metal.
Furnace- an enclosed structure in which material can be heated to very high
temperatures, e.g., for smelting metals.
Bellows- a device with an air bag that emits a stream of air when squeezed together with
two handles, used for blowing air into a fire.
They realized that they can produce a hotter fire by the use of Sticks and twigs.
Troy- Turkey in present day, was destroyed because of fire, due to war and accidents
Great library of Alexandria, Egypt- considered one of the worlds greatest losses
because of fire in 48 BC. The fire destroyed the greatest work and complete writings of
Romans and Greeks.

III. ANCIENT GREEKS USE OF FIRE

Ancient Greeks considered fire as one of the major elements in the universe
alongside of water, earth, and air.
Fire is completely different it is not matter at all unlike the other elements because it
is one part of Chemical reaction, between oxygen and fuel.
Ignition Temperature- the lowest temperature at which a combustible substance
when heated takes fire in air and continues to burn. Also called also autogenous
ignition temperature
Fire- has been an important part of many cultures, religions, from pre-history to
modern day and it was vital to the development of civilization.

IV. EARLY FIRE MAKING TECHNIQUES

1. Hand Drill- using a hand drill is one of the simplest friction methods, but high speed can be
difficult to maintain because only the hands are used to rotate the spindle.
2. Two-Man Friction Drill- Two people can do a better job of maintaining the speed and
pressure.

3. Fire Plough- this produces its own tinder by pushing out particles of wood ahead of the
friction.

4. Pump Fire Drill- the Iroquois invented this ingenious pump drill, which uses a flywheel to
generate friction.

5. Bow Drill- Of all the friction -fire-starting methods, the bow drill is the most efficient at
maintaining the speed and pressure needed to produce a coal, and the easiest to master.

6. Fire piston- Sometimes called a fire syringe or a slam rod fire starter, is a device of ancient
origin which is used to kindle fire.

7. Flint and Steel- Striking the softer steel against the harder flint will produce sparks to flame
your fire.

After people began to use stone for tools, theyve also found out that rubbing together
pieces of flint could produce spark that would set fire to wood shavings.

People also learned to make fires by rubbing together pieces of wood.

Fire drill was an adaption of the bow and the drill, the fire builder moved the bow in a
sawing motion

Southeastern Asia- they used wood piston to compress air inside bamboo tube that
contain wood shavings

Glassmaking- Greeks led to the development of lenses

Tinderbox- is a container made of wood or metal containing flint, firesteel, and tinder.

Japanese- devised a tinderbox that operated like a present day cigarette lighter.