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Central Pierce Fire and Rescue gets new arson detection tool

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Central Pierce Fire and Rescue has a new arson detection tool that can sniff out materials used to spread fire.

Hansel is an 18-month-old yellow lab who flunked out as a guide dog but is getting a second chance in the firehouse.

“Hansel likes to chase leaves. Turns out as a guide dog who likes to chase leaves, it doesn’t really work out for him. The feds got him because he has a phenomenal nose on him,” Hansel’s handler, Chris Lorenz, said.

Hansel and Lorenz, a deputy fire marshall with Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, just flew into town Saturday from Washington, D.C., where Hansel spent the last three months training at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' national K-9 training facility.

Arson dogs, like Hansel, don't detect arson, but they're trained to sniff out even the tiniest amounts of accelerant.

“We were putting 20 microliters of accelerant on a stir stick. Stick it in the middle of a football field, and they'll find it every time. They're that good. There's no mechanical way to replicate what these dogs do,” Lorenz explained.

Their super sniffers also make them super efficient.

“Say this terminal right here. This dog could walk through this terminal probably in a space of an hour and clear this whole thing. It would take people several days to do,” Lorenz added.

Hansel just graduated and now joins an elite group of only 61 arson dogs in the country certified by the ATF.

“There hasn't been an arson dog in the Pacific Northwest in five years, Washington in 10 years,” Lorenz said.

He'll be a big asset since he's the only arson dog in a five-state area. He'll help fire investigations in Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska as needed.

Hansel will now live with Lorenz, his wife, their four kids and their Newfoundland dog.

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