how do investigators find “what caused the fire?” Or “what caused the shuttle to explode?” Or any root cause of some event where much or all of the evidence has seemingly been destroyed?
In: Other
In the case of both the Challenger and Columbia disasters, but were blanketed by cameras, and much of the hypothesis was formed from analyzing the video.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?403748-1/reel-america-space-shuttle-challenger-accident-investigation
https://www.space.com/amp/19436-columbia-disaster.html
Certain things cannot be destroyed by others. Chemical traces are usually the main thing, but there are many other ways of determining it as well. Just to go off what your example was, a fire, could have an explosion site, and also you can typically tell where the longest burning part of the fire was. If it’s burnt to the ground, it’s a crap shoot and just testing tons of the remains.
Fire:
I trust you understand that fire needs a mixture…an optimum mix of fuel and air (plus heat).
When a fire FIRST begins, that mixture is OK but not perfect. This tends to leave fuel rich smoke and the fuel rich smoke leaves stains near that point. This is one way to tell where the fire began and by look at what is there you might find WHY the fire began. Analyzing the stains left by the smoke can tell you what exactly burned (gasoline and wood? or just wood?) which has implications.
Fun Fact: This rich smoke that comes out initially is the cause for “flash over.” The smoke that is from the beginning of the fire is rich in fuel. When the heat from the fire progresses and heats this rich smoke (assuming there is also O2) the smoke suddenly and forcefully ignites.
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