Brandon, a Labrador retriever, sniffs out “accelerants” as part of the State Fire Marshal’s K-9 unit that acts as the first means in determining arson. He’s one of six dogs in the state trained to detect about 88 different flammable liquids. And though the scene demonstrated Tuesday by the Panama City Fire Department and
“Sometimes it is a little more difficult,” Capt. Kevin Fiedor said of the fire marshal’s Northwest region office. “A quick response like today is not unusual, though. Our detectors are trained to look for signs in a fire scene to make that determination, regardless of what has happened.”
As part of the State Fire Marshal’s arson awareness program, firefighters demonstrated the process of how they usually handle fires — except in Tuesday’s instance, they knew the cause.
After dousing the flames, firefighters look for tell-tale signs of foul play before calling in investigators. Characteristics of the fire, the dollar amount lost in the blaze or if a fatality occurred can tip off fire crews of an intentionally set fire, which amounts to about 13 percent of fires each year.
State fire marshals are brought in and
“It was obvious this was a mock investigation,” Fiedor said. “In the three minutes this car was set on fire, the interior was completely scorched, so a lot of time it is not as clear cut and obvious, as total destruction can happen very quickly.”