The role of the canine in fire investigations is to assist in locating residual accelerant odors that are present at the fire scene. The canine will alert with an aggressive response when an accelerant odor is detected. Samples can then be taken from the area that the canine has alerted to. Originally, electronic sniffers were devised as a useful tool for the fire investigator to locate residual odors, however, these electronic sniffers cannot discriminate accelerant odors from the odors of burned products commonly found at a fire scene. The canine can be trained not to alert to these distraction odors.
Canines have the ability to detect and discriminate scents at low levels.
This is most commonly seen in drug detection dogs. At the present time there are approximately 200 canines used as accelerant detection dogs throughout the United States. The determination of the direct cause of the fire is the primary duty of any fire investigation. The canine and the laboratory are tools that assist the investigator in locating and identifying flammable and combustible liquids at fire scenes. By taking specific samples, we can submit fewer samples to the laboratory for analysis thus reducing time and laboratory cost of sample analysis.