Abstract: As a major type of fire that seriously affects the safety of people's life and property, arson fire has attracted the attention of fire investigators. According to data statistics, more than 80% of arson cases are using gasoline, diesel, high concentration of alcohol and other flammable liquids as accelerant, therefore, the inspection and identification of accelerant is a major research point to identify arson fires. In this paper, the methods of testing and identification of fuel additives are systematically summarized, and the detection methods include Raman spectroscopy, thin layer chromatography, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, GC-MS, thermal analysis-mass spectrometry, etc. At the same time, the research status of thermal analysis-mass spectrometry and its application are described in order to provide guidance for fire inspectors' identification and inspection.

Key words: fire investigation, arson, ignitable liquids, inspection and identification