Working for treats: K9 team joins fight against arson crimes in NC

"I want to introduce you to our newest employee," said NC Department of Insurance commissioner Mike Causey to a crowd of employees and media in front of the NCDOI building in downtown Raleigh.

Their new employee is a 2-year-old Golden Retriever/Labrador mix. She and her handler Craig Jarman are the department’s first and only K9-team focused on fighting America’s costliest crime.

"Each year, billions of dollars are paid in damages. Hundreds of lives are lost. That’s all due to arson related fires," said Causey. "In 2020, the average cost of any arson was over $30,000 dollars."

The new K9 team is the result of a partnership between State Farm Insurance, who provided Nancy, and NCDOI. Special agent Jarman trained with Nancy for four weeks or 200 hours in Concord, New Hampshire.

Nancy’s greatest value is speed. According to Causey, human investigators may search out a fire’s source for days but trained dogs like Nancy may find the fuel source within minutes or even seconds.

Nancy demonstrated her speed and skill for the crowd, using a training tool called a Daisy Wheel. The spinning device has 8 long arms with a can at the end of each. Nancy's task is to find the can with the scent of an accelerant, the fuel that may cause a fire.

Jarman spins the wheel and distracts Nancy between demonstrations. Still, she quickly identified the right accelerant 3 out of 3 times.

Each time, Nancy was rewarded with applause from the crowd -- and a few treats from Jarman.

Nancy is also demonstrated her ability to catch an arson perpetrator who had already ran away from the scene. Among five men lined up to the test Nancy, she quickly laid down at the feet of the man who had an accelerant's scent on him.

As a "Goldador" (mix of Golden Retriever and Labrador) Jarman says Nancy has a special temperament for the job.

"They aim to please. They love working. They have a very strong drive and they are food reward dogs during the demo, so they work for food. That’s how they are rewarded," he said.

The reward for Jarman is having Nancy as a constant companion, always ready for duty.

The demonstration event took place on a International Fire-Fighters’ Day as well as Arson Awareness Week.