GOOD BOY!： Mighty canine Titus joins Calgary fire department as new arson detection dog
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
177.75249
Summary
On this episode of the Fire Family, we are joined by Fire Dog, Titus. He is a dog that has been with us for over 10 years and has been a part of our Fire Family for the past 5 years.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
So, I mean, the number of fires in Calgary that seems to increase earlier, we definitely see the impact of the community.
00:00:06.000
Yeah, there's a variety of reasons why those fires start.
00:00:09.000
There's many different causes and many different sources.
00:00:12.000
Our investigation through works closely to ensure that we're able to capture the origin cause of all the investigating fires within the city of Calgary.
00:00:20.000
Unfortunately, sometimes those fires do have arson connection or criminal connection as well,
00:00:29.000
and they're supposed to become a pre-service arson unit.
00:00:32.000
So, I guess it's very important to determine the call for it to make sure that we are fully aware of the start of fires
00:00:38.000
and taking appropriate actions to follow that with that.
00:00:43.000
How long does it take to train a dog or medical?
00:00:50.000
So, Titus came to us from the States and he started training when he was eight weeks old.
00:00:56.000
So, they basically, they imprint him so that he's on the reward base.
00:01:00.000
As soon as he gets, he had a preference, he rewarded on that.
00:01:06.000
So, like a year and a half, he's basically training.
00:01:08.000
So, they have to, Titus is unique because he's a very agile dog.
00:01:15.000
He's comfortable around a large amount of people, a large amount of animals, things.
00:01:22.000
We have no idea what kind of circumstances they're taking Titus into.
00:01:28.000
So, there's a lot of training that was gone before we even got him.
00:01:41.000
He gets, the vast bulk of his food that he eats is through reward base.
00:01:46.000
So, he's sniffing and he's finding hydrocarbons.
00:01:49.000
We are annually certified through CADA, which is Canine Accelerant Protection Association.
00:01:56.000
They're a national association that basically certifies bodies.
00:02:01.000
So, we do a test every year to maintain our level of certification to them.
00:02:06.000
Do you think there are a dog that is better than others?
00:02:12.000
I mean, is there a particular breed of dog that is better than others?
00:02:24.000
So, the American field lab they've determined is like one of the best for hard use in the fire department.
00:02:30.000
Is there any number of calls that you've got that is too much in a day?
00:02:40.000
So, Titus is pretty, the time that Titus can spend in a scene,
00:02:46.000
whereas these investigators could spend literally hours, like long periods of time,
00:02:53.000
Basically, when a scene happens, my job is, of course, safety is carried on.
00:02:57.000
So, I go in, look at the scene, ensure that all the hazards are, that we don't have anything that's going to be either hurt him or him.
00:03:04.000
So, whether that, and if I give him anything dangerous, we don't have to do that.
00:03:13.000
So, in a large area like this, it can take us ten minutes and be done.
00:03:19.000
So, he could, physically, I wouldn't have the time to be like five in a day.
00:03:24.000
But, we could easily, if it was just him, that would be no problem.
00:03:29.000
So, he can find, like, an ignition, like, you do right now at the start of the fire.
00:03:48.000
And then, there's people, think about it, but there's always a residue.
00:03:52.000
So, he's just hypersensitive to those residue, to those different types of hydrocarbons, be light, medium and heavy.
00:04:09.000
Are there any cases in recent memory we can kind of relate to Titus really helping out that we can think of?
00:04:16.000
Yeah, the one thing that I can say is, unfortunately, fortunately or unfortunately,
00:04:22.000
the majority of stuff that Titus and I work with has criminal association to it.
00:04:28.000
So, we can't really divulge a lot of information on that side because it's just, there are ongoing proceedings in these things.
00:04:40.000
We actually have physical machinery that detects hydrocarbons.
00:04:48.000
Like, you have to let it warm up for 45 seconds.
00:04:55.000
It has to hover over an area for, like, 45 to 60 seconds.
00:05:01.000
So, how long are you going to look in this area hovering a machine, like, an inch above where you suspect?
00:06:06.040
I'm gonna try to cook it and tell you what it is.