Crime-fighting canine helps fire investigators catch arsonists

SEATTLE -- In recognition of Arson Awareness Week in May, fire and police departments help communities combat arson in their neighborhoods, businesses, schools and places of worship. The goal is to stop an arsonist before they strike, but when a building does burn it's one very special investigators job to sniff out the source of the crime.

Meet Trevor – a trained arson-investigation dog. Watch the video to see him in action. When he sits it means he's detected an accelerant used to start a fire. Trevor is one of two accelerant-detection canines trained by "Precision Dogs." and used at arson scenes throughout the state. Trevor can sniff out what his human counterparts can't -- helping investigators pinpoint the location of an arsonist's origin. "They add immense amount of data,” says Trevor’s handler, Eileen Porter. “They can find scents that are not visible in burn patterns or obviously to the naked eye at all and with all that extra data the fire investigator has a much more complete picture of what probably transpired and he can use that data to draw his conclusions.” Porter works for Q.Global Forensic Fire Origin and Cause Determination. Trevor's 10 years old and has been working as an arson investigator for more than half his life. He'll soon be joined by Addie who you see below, another Beagle pup Eileen is involved with training.