When the Calgary Fire Department wants to sniff out the cause of a blaze, its secret weapon for years has been its canine investigator, Willow.
The seven-year-old black Labrador is the Calgary Fire Department’s resident accelerant detection dog. Willow is trained to detect accelerants like gasoline or turpentine on items at the scene of a fire, which can then be sent for testing.
Willow works with CFD fire investigator Jodie Grisdale at fire scenes where an ignitable liquid may have been used. Putting Willow on the job helps investigators find the causes of potential arson more quickly. As well, pinpointing strong samples for testing can make investigations more efficient and less costly.
Research out of the University of Alberta in 2020 found that trained dogs can detect fire accelerants as small as one billionth of a teaspoon.
Willow is the city’s fourth accelerant detection dog and the only one currently working. She’s helped the fire department with more than 80 investigations where the cause of a blaze was unknown or where arson was suspected. Willow can pick up on remnants of accelerants sometimes weeks after a fire has occurred.
“Certainly, we have taken her into some scenes where we weren’t really expecting that an ignitable liquid was used,” Grisdale said. “She has indicated [accelerants], I have sent the sample away, coming back positive for ignitable liquid. We then have to figure out how that ignitable liquid got there.”
Willow was originally picked up by trainers in Maine to become an arson dog. Grisdale completed a 200-hour course with Willow in 2019 to be certified as an accelerant detection investigative team, before the Labrador was brought to Calgary. Now, Willow lives with Grisdale’s family and joins her on every shift.
Grisdale said seeing how approachable the dog is in the community and how she’s become an ambassador of sorts for the fire department has been the best part of her career.
Along with her work as an arson dog, Willow has also been useful in sitting with and supporting people who have experienced a house fire.
“She is often with me on all fire scenes in the truck, and we had a fairly distraught young person who had experienced a house fire,” Grisdale said. “She sat beside the young lady, and the difference that Willow made in her ability to calm her down and for this young girl to talk to us about her experience and the fire was remarkable.”
After about five years of work with the fire department, as valuable as Willow has been, she is approaching retirement.
“We’ll see how the next year goes, but I want to ease her into retirement. I think she deserves a well-rested and enjoyable retirement,” Grisdale said.