Mr. Dosanjh & Ms. Nekrewesh were charged with setting off an explosive device & burning down the building that contained their business.  The state based their charge on an analysis that a showed room filled with gasoline vapors could explode and produce the observed damage.  A hydrocarbon-based accelerant / liquid was detected at the scene after the fire.

We performed an investigation and determined that Mr. Dosanjh & Ms. Mekrewesh opened their building after it had been closed for a weekend while painters worked inside.  When they opened the door, they created a backdraft for a fire that had been smoldering inside and had produced a large cloud of unburned hydrocarbons. This created a deflagration that blew out the windows of the building.  The painters had left behind paint thinner in the room that created the appearance of accelerant after the fire.

We also performed a vapor diffusion analysis that showed a pool of gasoline left on the floor would require several days in a hot sealed room in order to produce a flammable mixture of gasoline vapor & air that could explode – a virtual impossibility in normal construction and inconsistent with the available time.