DETROIT (WWJ) – The Detroit Fire Department’s newest member specializes in sniffing out cases of arson – quite literally.
Detroit Dog Rescue recently donated $10,000 to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation for the purchase of a new K-9 for the Detroit Fire Department.
K-9 Cricket, a 2-year-old yellow lab, is the first K-9 belonging specifically to the DFD, and her handler Lt. Christopher Kish says she’s already hit the ground running.
“I think our first day in service we had three searches that we did that day,” Kish said. “She’s surprised me so far and I’ve already been able to get some samples back that we sent to the lab and they came back positive, so I’m very happy with her so far.”
Cricket is trained in the detection of “ignitable liquids” and helps the Fire Investigation Unit determine if a fire was possibly ignited with the use of an accelerant. The DFD Fire Investigation Unit manages one other K-9, which is assigned to the department from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - ATF.
Detroit Dog Rescue provided funding to purchase Cricket to “show their appreciation for Detroit’s first responders,” officials said.
DDR officials say trained dogs can play an important role in fire investigations, and Kish agrees.
“Unfortunately there’s a need. Detroit has kind of a fire problem that other areas don’t have,” Kish said.
Cricket is “an excellent tool” to help the department speed up some investigations and help “locate areas that might be more profitable as far as evidence.”
A dog's sense of smell can be up to one hundred thousand times more sensitive than a human's.
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