WAYCROSS - Their noses might be cold but Roxy, Tucker and
Sadie are hot on the trail of arsonists setting wildfires
throughout Southeast Georgia.
The three bloodhounds are tireless and tenacious trackers.
Along with their forestry ranger handlers, the bloodhounds are
members of the multi-agency Arson Investigation Task Force
assembled by the Georgia Forestry Commission.
The task force of veteran local, state and federal wildland
arson investigators plus local law enforcement officers is the
first of its kind in Georgia.
The dogs are the first bloodhounds to investigate wildland
arsons in Georgia, said Darryl Jones, task force spokesman and
chief of forest protection for the South Carolina Forestry
Commission.
Task force investigators have arrested nine people
including four juveniles - ages 12, 14, 15 and 16 - for
setting five unrelated fires since May 4 in Ware, Brantley,
Clinch, Irwin and Wayne counties. The fires, set in grass,
woods and an abandoned car, threatened to spread to nearby
homes before firefighters contained them, investigators have
said.
The bloodhounds led to arrests in the arsons in Ware,
Clinch, Irwin and Wayne counties, said Tucker's handler, John
Bird of the West Virginia Division of Forestry.
Tucker, 7, is the veteran, having worked about 125 cases
before coming to Southeast Georgia, Bird said.
"Bloodhounds are a highly effective investigative tool.
They've made cases [last] week that might not have otherwise
been solved," Bird said.
They also act as deterrents and good prevention tools
because arsons tend to drop once the dogs begin investigating,
he said.
Something smells smoky
Arsons are hard to solve because often the evidence is
destroyed, either by the fire or the measures taken to put it
out. However, many of the forestry bloodhounds are able to
pick up a scent up to a week old, Jones said.
The Virginia Department of Forestry and West Virginia
forestry division are the first state forestry agencies to use
bloodhounds in wildfire investigations. The dogs and their
handlers also routinely assist other law enforcement agencies
in tracking down criminals on the run and finding lost
children and adults.
The forestry bloodhound teams arrived May 5 to help
investigate a series of suspicious fires throughout Southeast
Georgia coinciding with the massive Sweat Farm Road/Big
Turnaround wildfires sparked April 16 by a downed power line.
Currently based in Waycross, the teams are scheduled to
remain in the region for at least two more weeks.
"We're investigating about 50 fires and following about 200
leads," said Mike Heath, a senior instructor at the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center specializing in wildland fire
investigation.
Teamwork pays off
The Virginia and West Virginia bloodhound teams have been
at the forefront of the wildfire investigations.
Roxy, 4, and her handler, William Neff of the Virginia
Department of Forestry, tracked a footprint found at the scene
of a May 6 grass fire on the outskirts of Waycross to a
12-year-old boy. The youth was arrested after implicating
himself in the blaze that burned less than 1 acre.
Neff said Roxy has successfully worked 50 cases ranging
from wildfire investigations to tracking fugitives in five
states including Virginia, Georgia and Florida.
"During a live track, her reward is a lot of praise when
she does a good job and finds what we're looking for. When
we're training, her reward is a Vienna sausage," Neff said.
Bloodhounds are used because of their keen sense of smell.
The dogs can sniff out and discern between thousands of scents
and smells, said Dan Kelley of the West Virginia Division of
Forestry, who is Sadie's handler.
Sadie, 4, has worked about 50 cases nationwide. She and
similarly trained bloodhounds are capable of tracking people
who flee on foot as well as all-terrain vehicles.
They are especially suited to investigating wildland fires,
he said.
"Many of the fires are set in remote areas with very little
contamination of the scene by people or vehicles. It's a very
pristine tracking area for the bloodhound," Kelley said.
The bloodhound's heart is just as important as its nose,
the forestry rangers said.
"We'll drop before they do. They will keep working until
they find who they are looking for," he said.
