THE PRESENCE OF TRACE AMOUNTS OF LEAD AND BROMINE IS SOMETIMES AN INDICATION THAT A FIRE WAS STARTED BY GASOLINE. THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE ACCELERANT CAN BE MADE FROM EXAMINING INCOMPLETELY BURNED ACCELERANT FOUND IN THE DEBRIS OR FROM SOOT CREATED DURING THE FIRE. IN THIS STUDY, TRACES OF LEAD AND BROMINE IN THE SAMPLES WERE FOCUSED ON. THEIR CONCENTRATIONS WERE TYPICALLY OF THE ORDER OF 1 PERCENT. STRONG CHEMICAL EFFECTS ON THE BINDING ENERGY OF THE BR 3D ELECTRONS WERE OBSERVED, INDICATING THE POSSIBLE FORMATION OF DIFFERENT BROMINE COMPOUNDS. IDENTIFICATION OF THE OBSERVED STRUCTURE REVEALED FORMATION OF PBBR 2 IN SOOT SAMPLES FROM BURNED GASOLINE BUT NOT FROM THE BURNED CARPET MATERIAL. BROMINE COMPOUNDS WITH HIGHER OXIDATIONS NUMBERS WERE FOUND TO BE PRESENT IN BOTH TYPES OF SOOT. THE METHOD DESCRIBED SHOULD THUS PROVE USEFUL IN FORENSIC SCIENCE FIRE INVESTIGATIONS. TABULAR DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ACCOMPANY THE REPORT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED - MJW)