Cars’ scars reveal auto fires as arson

Fire torched a line of parked cars, as well as a nearby building. Within the smoking mess, however, investigators honed in on discoloration on the doors of a charred shell that was once a 2010 Honda Accord. The fire didn’t spread to this car; it had started inside it. "The burn patterns are so obvious," said Allen Mayea, fire investigator with Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group. Dotting on the exterior and the size of paint bubbles confirmed that the fire began near the driver’s seat before moving through the engine. Soot covered the inside of shattered glass from the driver’s side window. The scent of gasoline filled the cabin, and forensic tests later confirmed the liquid’s presence throughout the interior. The fire didn’t just start here, it had been intentionally set.