CalciTrace

Research for fire investigation

What can gypsum board tell us about a fire?

From fire-damaged material to measurable evidence.

OBSERVE · MEASURE · UNDERSTAND

01

Material

Understanding gypsum board and the changes left by fire.

02

Measurement

Developing a practical instrument for assessing calcination depth.

03

Interpretation

Bringing measurements together with observations from the scene.

About CalciTrace

From material
to measurement.

A research and development project connecting gypsum board calcination with practical fire investigation.

CalciTrace explores how fire changes gypsum board and how these changes can be documented and measured. The work brings together experimental fires, scene observations and the development of a handheld measuring instrument.

The project is led by Jakub Baca, a fire investigator and doctoral researcher.

Discover the method
The project in 40 seconds00:40

A short introduction by Jakub Baca.
Czech audio · English subtitles

The method

A clear position.
A recorded measurement.

A laser-projected grid identifies where to measure. The handheld instrument measures calcination depth at the intersections.

Handheld calcination instrument positioned at an intersection of the projected laser gridLaser grid · point-by-point measurement
01

Document the scene

Record the room, fire patterns and the position of furniture before selecting the measurement area.

02

Project the grid

Use the intersections of horizontal and vertical laser lines to locate measurement points. Stand to the side to keep the grid visible.

03

Measure and map

Record the readings in their spatial order and compare the resulting depth map with observations from the scene.

See the method in the experiment →

Inside the experiment

One room.
A detailed case study.

Follow an experimental fire from the initial room layout through post-fire inspection to the laser-grid measurements and the full results.

Read the full case study
White, blackened and paper-faced gypsum board surfaces after a real fire
A real fire scene · different surface conditions on the same wall.

Gypsum board & fire

Look beyond
the surface.

White burn areas, blackened surfaces and intact paper facing can appear side by side. An annotated photograph explains these differences in a real fire scene.

Explore the material and the scene →

Development & collaboration

Let’s develop
CalciTrace together.

Interested in helping develop and test a practical instrument for fire investigation?

I welcome collaboration on instrument design, measurement methods and practical evaluation—from prototype improvements to testing in experiments and in the field.

Instrument developmentExperimental testingPractical evaluation

Start a conversation

Jakub Baca

Fire investigator & doctoral researcher
CalciTrace research and development

+420 731 957 758

Tell me about your expertise and how you would like to contribute.