Calgary’s newest fire investigator has a nose for fire accelerants, and he’s doggone good and finding them in the debris.

The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) introduced one of its newest members, a two-year-old American Field Labrador named Titus, to media on Nov. 6, and gave a demonstration of how swiftly the pup can suss out ignitable liquid fire accelerants.

Titus is the fifth dog to serve with the CFD since 1991, and he can locate a tiny drop—as little as 0.2 microlitres—of ignitable liquids that help investigators determine a fire’s potential cause.

CFD Deputy Chief Pete Steenaerts said that animals have long been a part of the work the city’s fire brigade does, going back to using horses to pull fire wagons. At that time, dogs were in the station to calm the horses.

“Having a fire investigations canine is essential in the complex fire investigations world where there may be a suspicion of an accelerant being used,” said Steenaerts.

“Titus can detect an ignitable liquid in minutes, where current technology could take hours or even longer. His precise detection helps confirm or rule out accelerant use, which is critical for identifying potential arson, ensuring public safety and supporting our fire investigations team.”

Titus and his human counterpart, 18-year CFD veteran Brad Brookes, have already been on scene for 33 fires since March.

In one situation, high winds were preventing investigators from detecting ignitable liquids at a fire that involved potential criminal activity. When Titus was called in, he was able to detect the liquids within 10 seconds.

Titus is trained to find fluids with hydrocarbon accelerants like gasoline, diesel, butane, paint thinner, camp fuel, paint remover, kerosene and others. Steenaerts said they leave a residue long after a fire has burned and been extinguished.

‘Amazing team member’: Investigator Brookes

The health of Titus is always front of mind, and he goes through a decontamination after each scene. That means a full bath, regular veterinary checks, special food and health assessments.

A fire investigation K9 career span is typically about five years, according to Steenaerts.

Brookes said that Titus began training in a food reward system since he was eight weeks old after being born in Wisconsin through Reliant Investigations under the Canine Accelerant Detection Association Fire Dogs Program.

“Titus is unique because he’s a very agile dog, he has a strong prey drive, he’s comfortable around a large amount of people, large animals, because we have no idea what kind of circumstances we’re going to take Titus in to, so he has to be comfortable with that,” he said.

A lot of the work Brookes and Titus are involved in has some criminal association to it, so he can’t divulge a lot of details on recent fire cases where Titus has sniffed out the potential cause.

Still, he dons his vest and badge and he shows his worth nearly every day. Brookes said they have hydrocarbon detection tools, but it’s often onerous to deploy them, whereas Titus gets the job done swiftly.

While Titus goes home with Brookes every day, there’s a bond between investigator and handler that extends into their work.

“I can’t see or smell ignitable liquids, so I have to trust Titus completely. He knows what he’s doing, I just help guide him there. There’s a deep trust between us. He searches, and I interpret the patterns he’s showing me, almost like painting a picture of what happened,” said Brookes.

“He’s an amazing team member. He helps us out every day,” he said.

Titus is fully funded through a partnership with Calgary-based AGAT Labs, covering food, training, veterinary and operational needs. There’s no cost to taxpayers.