The first Fire Investigation Search Dog was introduced into the UK’s West Midlands Fire Service in 1996. The dog ‘STAR’ and handler Fire Investigator, Clive Gregory were trained by Karenswood International Ltd and based at West Midlands Fire Service HQ in the centre of Birmingham, England.
The funding for this team and several further teams was kindly donated by Eagle Star Insurance Ltd and subsequently on being taken over by Zurich Financial Services, a subsidiary of the Zurich Insurance Group.
More Dog Teams followed with Bob Forster and ‘Star’ in Tyne & Wear Fire Service, Dave Peplow with ’Burnie’, Pete ‘Kiwi’ Simmons and ‘Katie’ from Surrey Fire & Rescue. Next came Nick Busby and ‘Titan’ from Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue. Two dogs and handlers joined the UK fight against arson from the Fire Service of Northern Ireland (Names of Handlers and Dogs omitted for security reasons). The next team trained were Nick Miles and dog ’Cappa’ who worked for the Devon Fire Service and about this time Richard Gibbons and his dog ‘Nelson’ from Cornwall also became operational. Dave Myers and dog ‘Phoenix’ were operational in Northumberland. The last dog team to be trained under the Zurich sponsorship scheme were Pat Lyon and his dog ’Odin’ in 2000.
The group continues to grow as the demand for the dog teams progressed other specialist trainers apart from Karenswood International have trained teams for the UK Fire Service. These trainers all produced dogs to the national level of competence and are continuing to supply quality dog and handler teams. They are:- South Yorkshire Police, Surrey Police, SCS (Lancashire) and CPG Associates (Midlands).
In 2001 The Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association (CACFOA) requested that the UK Handlers form an Association to provide a ‘Guide to Best Practice’ for the UK Fire Investigation Dog and Handler Teams. The purpose of the ‘Guide’ would be to assemble all the facts and considerations in one place so that future Chief Fire Officers do not have to waste time and effort in re-inventing the wheel. The Guide to Best Practice was published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2004. and contains items such transport, kennelling, training requirements and cost considerations of deploying a Fire Investigation Search Dog Team.
The UK Fire Investigation Dogs continue to go from strength to strength as time passes when it has been recognised by Fire Service Managers that besides their operational role these teams can play a vital role in community education and fire safety
Article from http://www.fidogs.co.uk
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