SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — Cutting-edge technology is helping investigators determine what sparked a fire that tragically killed four members of the same family in South Fulton.
The youngest victim is Hailey Harris, who was just 7 years old. Twelve people were at the home when the fire broke out.
Investigators hope a 3D scanning camera will help give the family answers and closure. A tape measure is the conventional way to take measurements at crime scenes, but a forensic scanner is taking them for investigators, and that's just the beginning of what it can do.
No cause has been determined yet in the October 19 fire, but the new technology is helping to speed up the investigation.
“It helps them to get a bigger picture of the potential cause and origin of that fire," City of South Fulton Lt. Helen Weathers said.
Weathers said the FARO 3D scanner is used in about 90% of homicide investigations, but for the first time, she used it in a fire to capture the outside and inside of the home with a laser camera.
“It’ll go 360 degrees in a circle. It allows you to see things collectively and relate things to each other," Weathers said.
The camera has a digital interface and touchscreen.
"We are allowed to have the ability to connect our phones as remote devices, so my screen then becomes the remote screen," Weathers said. "Once it starts scanning, you’ll see the center camera area start to spin.”
The investigators can look at the scene in 360 degrees and zoom into various locations.
“The laser is going out 70 meters from where it’s at scanning millions and millions of points," Weathers said.
City of South Fulton Fire Chief Chad Jones believes the camera may be able to spot crucial clues and evidence better than other tools they have because of how badly the home on Oswego Trail was damaged.
“It’s a tool now in our toolbox to help us to determine what actually happened," Jones said. “We can kind of determine what happened, what led up to this, because now that we can see the aftermath. What with this technology does is going to recreate.”
The technology was originally developed for use by orthopedic doctors. It now helps investigators better understand burn patters, gunshot residue or blood spatter.