The Nashville Fire Department’s Fire Marshal’s Office has two new investigators that are also the cutest investigators.
Shanti, a 1-year-old Goldador, and Herman, a 2-year-old Yellow Labrador Retriever, are NFD’s new highly trained Arson K-9s.
Both K-9s and their handlers Miguel Garcia – (K9 Shanti) John Torzilli – (K9 Herman) recently completed their training under the guidance of Maine Specialty Dogs. The K-9 teams are certified by the Maine State Police and the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
These remarkable canines, along with their dedicated handlers, completed an intensive four-week training program at the New Hampshire State Fire Academy, accumulating a total of 200 hours of specialized instruction.
Their primary objective as an accelerant detection canine team is to assist fire investigations by identifying areas with a higher probability of producing laboratory results confirming the presence of ignitable liquids.
The NFD introduced the new K-9 officers and provided a demonstration of their skills Wednesday, April 17th at the Nashville Training Academy.
Shanti and Herman were purchased by the State Farm Arson Dog Program.
According to State Farm’s Arson Dog Program description, “The arson dog program is special to us because of how it uniquely helps others. As an insurer, we’re all too familiar with what it looks and feels like to lose your home to fire. When that happens because of an arsonist, closure is important. These dogs and their handlers help to deliver just that.”
Both Shanti and Herman are already on the job responding to incident scenes to participate in investigations to determine the manner and cause of fires.
