SPOKANE VALLEY-- Spokane Valley Firefighters introduced their newest member Monday. Man’s best friend is lending a paw and more importantly he’s bringing a keen sense of smell to help fire investigators.
Investigators ruled nearly half of the structure fires in Spokane Valley last year arson. They estimate the damages at $1 million. That’s why they’ve brought in Mako.
When it comes to detecting gasoline, paint thinner, and other chemicals, an arson may use to start a fire, machines can find them, but Mako can do it much faster.
Rick Freier is Mako’s trainer. He says an accelerant sniffing machine has to be within three inches and go real slow through the actual area. Dogs are even more sensitive than a machine.
State Farm this year selected the Spokane Valley Fire Department as one of five departments in the U.S. to participate in its arson dog program.
Mako started out as a seeing-eye dog. Freier says Mako didn’t work out for the program because he was a little high-strung so he went into the arson program. The Lab trained for four months before his trainer met him. They worked together for another five weeks.
In demonstrations on Monday, Mako picked out cans and towels doused with just a few drops of accelerant. Freier put some drops on the floor and Mako also sniffed them out.
The cost of the arson dog program was $28,000, all paid for by State Farm. The insurer will continue to pay the canine expense for the next five years.
Mako will be used throughout Spokane County.
