Accelerant Dogs Make "Scents" at Some Fire Scenes

By Gwen McEntire

Hundreds of lives and billions of dollars of property are lost each year as a result of fires that are set by arsonists. Studies show that a well-trained dog, working with an accomplished handler, can achieve an accuracy rate of about 95 percent in an arson investigation.

A program that began more than 10 years ago has proven so popular and effective that classes for this entire year were full before the end of last year, and reservations are being made for sessions scheduled in 2003.

The Maine Criminal Justice Academy helped pioneer the use of accelerant-sniffing dogs to investigate cases of suspected arson. The program got a boost in 1993 when representatives from State Farm Insurance visited and, subsequently, began to sponsor 10 scholarships each year. Included are the costs of acquiring the dog, room and board for the five-week session, training fees and travel costs to and from Maine.

“We get a steady stream of applicants,” notes Tom Hagerty, Senior Public Affairs Specialist with State Farm. “We see this as a great opportunity to partner with fire and police personnel and offer a tool that will make a difference and positively impact a community.” There is greater cost associated with arson than people realize, he adds, with more than the obvious loss of lives and property. There are also the costs of investigation and criminal prosecution, as well as loss of jobs in some situations.

Although State Farm initially advertised to garner applicants for the program, that is no longer necessary; word-of-mouth generates more interest than there are spaces. Hagerty says that more than 150 dogs have been placed in 39 states and three Canadian provinces. Two dogs will be placed in Costa Rica this year.

“People tell us the dogs are a tremendous tool and enhance their investigations,” he states. Every individual selected must have the capability to conduct criminal arson investigation, he adds. Applicants must be full-time employees of a fire department or law enforcement agency. They must agree to house and care for the dog after completion of the training, and to pay the cost of annual recertification. (This is essential to document the dog’s credibility in cases involving litigation.)

Trainers look for physically healthy dogs with a strong desire to hunt and retrieve objects. The dogs come from breeders, private owners and even from animal shelters.

“People have driven here from two or three states away to bring us dogs,” says Paul Gallagher, trainer at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. “Shelters will call and make a referral. If it’s something we can use, we’ll try it. We’ve rescued eight or nine dogs who would have probably been put to sleep.” Those who can’t meet the requirements of training are placed in private homes.

“The tasks get harder and harder,” he explains. “Stress on an animal is like stress on a person. We don’t push them and we have never put one down; we find homes for them somehow.” He says that people who are interested in adopting one of the dogs who is dropped from the program are interviewed to see if they’re comfortable and compatible with the dog.

Food is used as a motivator and reward as the dogs are taught to discriminate scents of various accelerants used to set fires. (Dogs are reported to have roughly 40 times the number of olfactory receptors as humans, and these receptors can be sensitized to recognize unrelated chemicals.) They are also trained to work around physical obstacles.

News accounts abound of dogs being successful in detecting substances that were used to set fires. One last December was published in New Jersey, where dogs sniffed out traces of “a quickly combustible substance” in the debris of an apartment and multifamily homes. About 100 people had been left homeless as a result of the multiple fires.

In Hernando, Mississippi, a jury convicted a man of setting fire to his mobile home in February 2000 for the purpose of collecting insurance money on the property. The fire marshal’s office determined the fire started on a living room sofa, and an accelerant-sniffing dog had indicated that a chemical was used. In addition to being sentenced to one year in prison and 10 years of supervised probation, the man was ordered to pay $51,255 in restitution to State Farm Insurance.

Gallagher’s penchant for training canines began at an early age. He recalls teaching obedience to his family’s beagle when he was 10 years old. Years later, as a law enforcement officer in Maine, he responded to a posting seeking applicants to become canine trainers. He was hired and first trained narcotics-sniffing dogs. In 1986 he was given the go-ahead to design the new specialized program, and the following year he trained the first accelerant-sniffing dog for the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

“Things went well,” he recalls. “We ended up getting more and more requests. Then State Farm came to visit and decided to sponsor scholarships.

“We started off small. We’ve kept it small,” he continues. He averages 10 teams per class, with six or seven of them being new and the others returning for recertifications. Although some recertification sessions are held throughout the country, the basic training takes place in Alfred, Maine. The dogs are brought weeks before class begins to become acclimated to the new environment. The pace is relaxed. They run and play in the fields. Their health and weight are checked, and a vet determines the quantity of food that is needed by each dog. After about six weeks, their handlers arrive.

“Some of them have never had pets before. We have a vet come in and talk about basic care,” explains Gallagher. There is immersion in exercise and training activities, and nearly constant human contact. Dogs and handlers average 90-150 repetitions a day. The bond that results is so strong that, if left behind or at home, the dogs will often sulk or “get even,” says Gallagher. They like to work and thrive on interaction with their handlers. In fact, to maintain a working dog, he says they should ideally be used to investigate 40-50 fires every year.

“We don’t want to train dogs who are just sitting around and waiting,” he comments. At the end of the five weeks handlers must pass a 2 ½ hour written exam. Dogs are tested by a chemist from the criminal justice system to evaluate if they are able to detect different chemical odors. If so, they are awarded certification.

They are not only thorough and accurate, but they are also fast, and average five to 15 minutes at a fire scene. Handlers enter first to make certain it’s safe and that there are no hot spots remaining. The only dog who’s ever been injured at an investigation scene was one who was playing Frisbee with its handler, Gallagher notes.

Dogs are not failsafe, however. They are similar to people in that some days they don’t want to work, or won’t work as effectively as usual. Gallagher and the two other trainers at the Academy are always available for questions or concerns from their clients about the behaviors of their dogs.

The original dog that trained in the program died in February 2001 at the age of 15. His story was fittingly one of a pound puppy rescued for a nobler cause. The attendance at his memorial service rivaled that for other fallen comrades.

“People who work with them cherish these dogs,” says Gallagher, adding that other animals have been similarly trained but that people turn to dogs because of their sociability and trainability.

This article appeared in ASLET (American Society for Law Enforcement Training) The Law Enforcement Trainer November/December 2002 publication. ASLET's home page

Gwen McEntire is a freelance writer and editor who has written for newspapers, magazines and corporate clients since 1979. She can be contacted at gmcentire@erols.com