SCRANTON, Pa. — W'asyk is the newest member of the Scranton Fire Department. But, the 15-month-old Labrador retriever isn't just the firehouse mascot; he's here to work.
W'asyk is trained to sniff out accelerants at fire scenes.
Scranton Fire Chief John Judge says the city currently has a K-9 for this specialty, but that dog is retiring soon. The fire department had money in the budget for a new arson detecting K-9.
"We felt that this would be a good opportunity to continue with the program and have that really great asset for the department," Chief Judge said.
Firefighter David Megotz is W'asyk's handler. He spent two weeks training in Philadelphia before they officially went on duty together this week.
"He's trained on over a dozen different chemical compounds, also trained not to hit on certain common chemical compounds that are byproducts of normal combustion," Megotz explained.
Chief Judge says fires destroy a lot of evidence, and putting together the pieces is difficult, especially for the human nose. Having a trained dog can help pinpoint where an accelerant may have been used.
We saw W'asyk in action at the fire station on Mulberry Street. It didn't take long for him to find the sample.
"His training amount is 10 to 20 microliters which is roughly a drop the size of a pinhead that he could find in a field, a large building, a fire scene. That's what normal training volume is of the chemicals," Megotz said.
"That's off the charts. What these dogs can do, no machine is even close," said the chief. "It's going to be a great tool for the city and help our inspectors in doing their cause and origin determination."
W'asyk isn't your typical-looking K-9 officer, and the chief says his sweet face will be a bonus in the community.
"Because everybody wants to see the dog when we go anywhere, so it'll be a good PR tool for the department as well," Judge added. "He's going to be a great asset and serve the city well."
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