Alfie is in love! I’m not sure if it was the uniform or the chocolate brown eyes that attracted him the most, but Fire Dog Fudge certainly got Alfie drooling at the mouth and his tail on fast spin!
Fudge and her handler Dave Coss are based at Alfreton fire station, and shortly before Christmas, Alfie and I were kindly permitted to visit for a chat and demonstration of their skills.
Dave joined the fire service in 1992, and has also been involved for several years with the Search and Rescue Dog Association as a volunteer with his other dog Sally. Just over 3 years ago, he and his family acquired a chocolate Labrador puppy as a pet, and called it Fudge, rather appropriate as it turns out – Thornton’s factory is right next door to the fire station!
It was obvious that puppy dog Fudge was extremely intelligent, and Dave decided to train her to be a working dog. He had heard about fire investigation dogs being used in America for many years, and that a handful of dogs were on trial in the UK, although there were none at that time in our region.
Dave approached his seniors with the idea of Fudge being trained, which was treated with some interest, scepticism and the usual question of where would the funding come from. Back in 1996 the first UK Accelerant Detection Dogs were funded by Eagle Star Insurance, with all the dogs having ‘Star’ in their names. However, the funding ceased about five years ago and since then several companies have been involved, but on a smaller scale. A computer software company for example sponsored one dog in Hertfordshire which was called Browser. The cost of training a team of both dog and handler and providing them with transport and the necessary equipment is around £50,000, so you can see why the fire service are reluctant to pay for this until it has been proven that the expenditure is justified.
It was not until April 2001 that the UK Association of Fire Investigation Dog Handlers was established to promote the use of fire investigation dog teams and to maintain and develop national standards for all dogs and handlers used by UK fire services. There are currently only a dozen or so working fire investigation dogs in the UK which are all independently sponsored. Nestle Purina Pet Care UK Limited for example sponsor Fudge for all her food and licensing costs, whilst ADT Alarms at Nottingham have provided a new van for two years to include running costs and maintenance.
In spring 2003 Dave got a friend at South Yorkshire police dog training school to help him with Fudge which was extremely successful. She officially qualified in June 2003 at the fire service college at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and was awarded a certificate and licence. Since then Dave and Fudge have been working on trial as a team with the fire service, covering the East Midlands, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire regions.
Using similar techniques to the explosives and drugs dogs, Fudge was trained to sniff out up to 25 liquid accelerants. These include petrol, diesel, turpentine and paraffin etc, which can be used in a variety of fire-related crimes. She is a ‘passive’ sniffer dog, which means that when she makes a ‘find’ she stands rigidly still and quiet, with her nose aimed at what she has found, indicating the exact location to Dave, before moving away from the substance so as not to disturb the scene and any evidence. Just one tiny drip is enough as I discovered in the demonstration. In fact, when I first met Fudge she attached her nose to my leg, simply because she could smell petrol fumes on my trousers from when I had filled up my car a couple of days previously!
The scene of a fire can be devastating, with broken glass, sharp and jagged objects, exposed screws and nails and lots of soot and blackened embers – not the ideal place for a dog to go rooting around. However, Fudge is not allowed anywhere near until it has been established that the scene is safe and cool. Her uniform is a luminous harness and Ruffwear protective leather and canvas bootees or paw protectors, for which she has become quite famous. They are imported specially from America and cost £30 a set, and are currently purchased by Dave, although he is hoping that they will soon be accepted as legitimate expenses and be paid for by the fire service. It is important that a clean set are used for each investigation as there must be no cross-contamination of any evidence, so Fudge is a typical female with several ‘pairs of shoes’ to wear.
Fudge is called out most weeks at least once, and has to be ready to travel up to 150 miles if necessary. Dave and his dog also regularly train at Alfreton and attend assessments and occasional group training with other teams in other divisions.
Fire investigation dogs are not only used after an event to establish if accelerants were involved, but through media coverage, talks and visits to schools etc, they can be a useful deterrent and preventative measure. Dave and Fudge are also part of the Fire Service Community Support Team based at Alfreton. It is unfortunate that these days the fire service is tackling a growing number of deliberate school fires caused through arson, but with help from the dogs, this is resulting in more successful convictions.
A fire might not necessarily be caused through crime of course, but by using an accelerant detection dog to establish how the fire started, it can also help insurance companies to determine if a claim should be paid out. Consequently, Loss Adjustors are now coming around to the idea of paying a fee to the fire service for the use of the dogs.
Fudge has been extremely successful on her call-outs to date, with some cases currently going through the courts, and more to follow. Samples have to be taken of any evidence that she has found, which can take up to a couple of months for the results. Since qualifying, Fudge has definitely proved her worth, and with an increasing workload, it may well be that the government allow the fire service to take on more investigation dogs in the future.
Alfie and I accompanied Dave and Fudge into one of the fire station off-duty rooms for a demonstration. Fudge was taken to an adjacent room and made to wait whilst Dave deposited just one tiny drip of accelerant from a pipette onto the carpet. We then watched in admiration as Fudge was brought back into the room and told to search. Dave had explained how draughts and air flow through the room would affect dispersal of the fumes. Sure enough Fudge followed the scent around the walls first, before working inwards to the source then stood rigidly staring at the exact spot on the carpet. Dave instructed Fudge to back away then took a tennis ball from his pocket which is her reward for a ‘find’ – just the same as the explosives and police dogs, there are no tasty nibbles or treats for being a clever dog!
I then got to see the fire tenders which were all geared up and ready for call-out, before dragging a love-struck Alfie back to the car and heading for home.
When Dave is on duty, Fudge is always with him, she may be in the back of her specially adapted van, but more often than not she is curled up on a rug by the side of Dave’s desk. When off duty, there is nothing Fudge likes better than a romp in the fields with her best friend Sally the collie, lots of fuss and cuddles, and to settle down at home in front of a nice warm fire!
This article was written by Sally Mosley a few years ago as part of a series of articles about dogs involved in charities or working dogs in the Peak District. Sally is available for public speaking, one of the talks being about her experiences whilst researching and writing these articles. For further information please visitwww.sallymosley.co.ukor emailmail@sallymosley.co.uk
Sally Mosley