{"id":2032,"date":"2024-05-13T15:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agatfoundation.wpengine.com\/?p=2032"},"modified":"2025-11-21T16:11:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:11:20","slug":"elle-fait-toujours-quelque-chose-pour-sa-communaute-alimentaire-se-lie-avec-le-service-dincendie-de-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agatfoundation.com\/fr\/shes-always-doing-something-for-her-food-community-connects-with-the-calgary-fire-department\/","title":{"rendered":"\"Elle fait toujours quelque chose pour sa nourriture : La communaut\u00e9 se rapproche du service d'incendie de Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This time on Community Connects there\u2019s a dog in the spotlight. Calgary Fire Department\u2019s ignitable liquid detection canine, Willow, and fire investigator, Jodie Grisdale, join Marissa Reckmann, CEO, AGAT Laboratories<\/a>, and Director, AGAT Foundation, to explore Willow\u2019s job in helping uncover the facts in fire investigations.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe has taken us down a few paths that we weren\u2019t expecting, and finding ignitable liquid,\u201d says Grisdale. \u201cBut her rate for a sample coming back from the lab positive for an ignitable liquid is in the 90 to 95 percent range.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Grisdale has been with the Calgary Fire Department for 17 years, but it was just seven years ago when she took on the role as fire investigator. Her role involves finding origin and cause of fires that happen within the City of Calgary. But more recently \u2014 for the past five years \u2014 she\u2019s had the help of Willow in her investigations.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have done some experimenting with our handheld detector versus Willow\u2026 a room this size [est. 800 sq. ft.] would take me maybe an hour with one of the handhelds,\u201d says Grisdale. \u201cWhereas Willow and I could clear this room in maximum five minutes.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHer ability to distinguish between hydrocarbons is way more precise, I feel, than the instrument that we\u2019re working with. So to be honest, I haven\u2019t used that electronic device in a long time.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As dogs are said to have a 100,000 times better sense of smell than humans, it\u2019s no wonder Willow is an asset to fire investigations. While ignitable liquid detection canines are not as common in Canada, they\u2019re used more frequently in the United States, says Grisdale. And that\u2019s exactly where Willow got her training.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went down to Maine and New Hampshire. I arrived, and Willow was there all ready to do work,\u201d said Grisdale. \u201cShe had been trained prior to my arrival. She\u2019d been imprinted already on the scent. In this case, it\u2019s 50 per cent evaporated gasoline.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ignitable liquid detection canines are also known by another name \u2014 arson dogs. Since 1993, the State Farm Arson Dogs Program<\/a> has provided training for more than 435 dogs and their partners across 46 states and three Canadian provinces. And that\u2019s exactly how Willow and Grisdale met.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to spend one month, which was about 200 hours, learning to work with her. She knew her job. It was now up to me to figure out how to learn and observe her and figure out how we were going to work as a team.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Outside of work, Willow has a life similar to a household pet in many ways.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe does everything that other dogs do. We go for walks every day, we play in the yard, she\u2019s very social,\u201d says Grisdale.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only time where she\u2019s off limits is when we\u2019re on scene. I pull out my food pouch, and that\u2019s it, she\u2019s fully focused and ready to work.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n