Accelerant Detection Canine Diving Into Work Nose First

Latest Kern County, California and US &amp; world news from 23ABC in Bakersfield, Calif.

Transcript

00:00 Last week, Bakersfield Fire arson investigators were called in to investigate this burned down building right behind me.

00:05 Only this time, they called in reinforcements.

00:09 Good boy!

00:11 This is Duke, the newest member of the Bakersfield Fire Department, and his handler, Captain John Wiegas.

00:17 Man, this is the best job ever. A firefighter with a dog, it's great.

00:21 Duke is an accelerant detection canine, the first one for Bakersfield Fire in 20 years.

00:26 His job? To find ignitable liquids, such as gasoline, diesel, and lighter fluid.

00:32 So when we're training right now, I've placed a few drops of gasoline. I've hidden them. He doesn't know where they are.

00:39 Barely a year old, this firehouse dog will soon be able to streamline the process for arson investigators.

00:45 We were basically taking blind samples and sending them to a lab and hoping for the best.

00:50 In fact, he's already started working.

00:53 Wiegas has taken Duke to around four dozen fires. Out of those, nearly half were started by accelerant, and Duke was able to find them all.

01:01 It's also a game for him. He loves it.

01:03 Wiegas said, even though he's still a pup and has a lot of training ahead of him, he's working hard.

01:07 We work on obedience training. That's one of our things that we're working on right now.

01:11 All day?

01:11 After we train, he likes to go to the dog park. We'll go play.

01:15 Every day.

01:16 Let's go. Let's go to work.

01:18 Alright, Duke. Let's go.

01:22 Good boy. Better. Where's that? Yes!

01:28 Good boy. Let's go.

01:33 Promising work from this canine.

01:38 Good boy.

01:41 Well worth the $10,000 that were raised to bring him here. Donated by Bryce and Krista Horton.

01:47 And when he's not sniffing out accelerant, Duke is a family dog.

01:52 Just last month, we took him on vacation. He went to the beach with us.

01:55 But even then...

01:56 There are certain times when he can't go to work, if I have cord or something like that, that he can't go to.

01:59 He knows he has an important role to fill.

02:01 And my wife says he just whines and mopes all day until I come home, until he can actually go back to work.

02:06 So arsonists, beware.

02:08 And there it is.

02:10 Good boy.

02:14 And Duke will be answering the call of duty for likely the next 5 to 8 years,

02:18 after which he can retire and spend the rest of his happy days with Captain Weegus.

02:23 For 23 ABC News, I'm Veronica Morley connecting you.

02:26 For 3 ABC News, I'm Veronica Morley connecting you.