The Duluth Fire Department has just unleashed its latest firefighting tool, and it's a two-year-old yellow lab named Jack. Jack is a specially trained ignitable liquid K-9, ready to sniff out the faintest traces of accelerants at fire scenes, according to the City of Duluth, MN Government.
Jack and Deputy Fire Marshal Adam Casillas, a certified state fire investigator, have now become an elite unit tasked to quickly and efficiently survey the ashes. They've recently wrapped up an intensive 200-hour certification program with the Maine State Police, in concert with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, to fully prepare to join and to serve the firefighting squad, as per the City of Duluth, MN Government.
Working exclusively with Casillas, Jack's nose is a critical asset in pinpointing where an investigator should collect samples for further analysis. "Jack will act as a fire scene mechanism for finding any ignitable liquids that may have contributed to a fire starting or contributed to fire growth," the department noted in their announcement. These samples are then sent off to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) where they undergo a rigorous verification process.
