Canine Unit
The Canine Unit (CU) is based at Porthlethen. (Search and Rescue, Diesel and Mac))
Canine Unit Hander – CM Gary Carroll – callsign D18
Fire Investigation Officer Jonathan Honeyman is based in Glasgow. (Flint and Phoenix)
Vehicles
VX14YHO Vauxhall Van Portlethen
Diesel
In 2015 the Scottish Fire
and Rescue Service acquired a search and rescue dog called Diesel, a Springer
Spaniel, who works and stays with his handler Crew Manager Gary Caroll. Diesel
is based at Portlethen Training Centre and has a harness with a torch on either
side facing forward, a bell and a handle for lifting him. He has little boots to
protect his paws, doggles to protect his eyes and a floatation jacket for when
working near water. Diesel is only trained to search for live bodies and as such
attends incidents involving building collapse, train or plane crashes,
explosions and river bank searches. Diesel and Gary are members of
UK
International Search and Rescue and in 2015 they went to help in the aftermath
of the Nepal earthquake.
A Fire Service search
and rescue dog that has responded more than 300 times to protect communities in
Scotland and abroad has now officially retired.
Springer Spaniel Diesel has hung up his protective boots and doggles after
helping locate casualties over the past eight years – or approximately 55 ‘dog
years’.
The clever canine joined the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue team
in 2012 and then the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2015.
And he was trained to use his powerful nose to move quickly through collapsed
buildings or across wide areas of land to detect the live scent of an injured or
trapped survivor.
Based in Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, Diesel has been working side-by-side with
handler Gary Carroll who is a Crew Commander with the Scottish Fire and Rescue
Service.
The pair were notably deployed to Nepal in 2015 as part of the UK’s
International Search and Rescue team after an earthquake hit the region and
thousands sadly lost their lives.
11-year-old Diesel was the first search dog employed by the Scottish Fire and
Rescue Service and will officially hand over the lead to his protégé Mac.
Looking back at their time together, Crew Commander Carroll said: “Myself and
Diesel have had a great working relationship over the years.
“I’ve had him since the day he was born and have been able to watch him grow
into an incredible search dog.
“When we’ve attended incidents he’s always checking that I am OK, in the same
way that I have done with him.”
He added: “He’s been a real asset and been able to help firefighters and other
agencies at incidents by searching large areas in a short time frame.
“By doing this he’s able to help ascertain whether someone is within the search
area – and, if not, then we can quickly move the focus onto another search
area.”
Mac is a four-year-old English Springer Spaniel and has been an operational
search dog with the national service since October 2019, also based in
Portlethen, Aberdeenshire.
Martin Blunden is the Chief Officer for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
He said: “Firstly, I want to thank Diesel for his service – he’s been an
important part of our response across Scotland for a number of years now.
“Even though he sees searching as a game, he’s dedicated a large part of his
life to helping people when they are in need and that should be commended.
“I’d also like to thank Gary and his family for the hard work and time they have
put in to training both Diesel and Mac.”
Crew Commander Carroll works as an Urban Search and Rescue instructor at the
training centre in Portlethen.
Chief Officer Blunden continued: “It’s an incredible level of commitment shown
by both handler and dog to be there for people across Scotland when needed.
“Whether it is the middle of the night or just as dinner is being served, a call
can come in and Gary will drop anything to provide a potentially life-saving
resource.”
SFRS news
Publish Date:
21 August 2020
SFRS Search and Rescue
dog Diesel has been awarded ‘Animal of the Year’ at a recent ceremony in London.
Diesel, a 10-year-old springer spaniel was bestowed the accolade at the
International Fund for Animal Welfare awards on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.
Flint
Is
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's
fire investigation dog who along with his owner Firefighter Jonathan Honeyman
received a letter of Commendation from Police Scotland for an incident where
Flint was instrumental in the identification of key evidence.
(The Shout, Issue 02, Page 6)
Pheonix
A little dog rescued from a puppy farm is helping to keep people safe after
joining a team of specialist investigators at the Scottish Fire and Rescue
Service.
Phoenix, a two-year-old
spaniel, has been trained over the course of the last year to detect scents that
can identify the location and cause of deliberate fires.
The canine also takes part in community engagement work to educate young people
about the risks of fire setting; he also provides comfort to the victims of
traumatic fire.
He was put through his paces by experienced dog handler and fire investigation
officer Jonathan Honeyman, based in Glasgow, who said: "Phoenix has come on
leaps and bounds since we first started working together.
“It was quite clear very early on that he had tremendous capabilities for
helping with our investigations - he can detect the slightest trace of ignitable
liquids up to one metre below debris left by a fire.
“Phoenix can be brought on site hours, days or weeks after an incident to search
a wide radius to trace any evidence, which is a huge advantage to us. He is
without doubt a valued member of our investigation team.”
The SFRS has already outlined how firefighters were called to more than 1,700
deliberate secondary fires in Scotland between June 24 and August 26, 2019 as it
continues to support people to have a #SaferSummer2020.
These fires can cause injury and death, spread to nearby properties, affect
local businesses and also threaten wildlife within areas of natural beauty.
Parents and carers are encouraged to discuss the dangers of fire setting with
young people.
Jonathan added: “Phoenix will work with community action teams to support
educational programmes running across Scotland that support disaffected youths
who may become involved in antisocial fire related behaviour.
“These locally run programmes involving SFRS staff and our partners are often
extremely successful in outlining the dog’s capabilities and therefore driving
down fire setting.”
“If he could speak, I am sure Phoenix would encourage young people to act
responsibly this summer and avoid putting themselves and communities at risk.”
Phoenix was rescued from the illegal puppy farm in Aberdeenshire in 2017 by the
Scottish SPCA following a lengthy investigation which resulted in criminal
conviction.
Manager of the Scottish SPCA’s rescue and rehoming centre in Glasgow, Anna
O’Donnell, said: “Our team did a fantastic job with Phoenix, who was in our care
for 321 days. Phoenix, being a spaniel, is energetic, very clever and obedient
so we thought he was the perfect fit for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
“We are pleased to hear that he is now trained and working to keep communities
safe by educating young people on fire safety.”
David Dourley, SFRS Head of Fire Investigation, said: “I’m delighted to
introduce Phoenix to our communities and I’m sure this valuable and capable
resource will assist our Fire Investigation teams across the country.
“Phoenix not only enhances our fire investigation capabilities at complex fire
scenes, but he will support our partners and contribute hugely to community
engagement work, also providing comfort and wellbeing support to the victims of
traumatic fire.”
(SFRS WEB site, News section.
Publish Date: 05 July 2020 by
Angeline Sneddon.)
Mac
A young
English Springer Spaniel has now joined the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as
its new search and rescue asset.
Three-year-old ‘Mac’ recently passed his grading in Merseyside and was unveiled
today as an operational search dog for the Fire Service in Scotland.
The English Springer Spaniel will join his fellow four-legged friend Diesel and
help keep Scotland’s communities safe.
Speaking of the recent qualification, dog handler and Crew Manager Gary Carroll
said: “It’s a great feeling to be able to now announce Mac as a fully qualified
search and rescue dog.
“We’ve had him since he was eight-weeks old so to get to this stage is a real
proud moment.
“But it’s not just me that’s been involved, my wife, my family and the Fire
Service have really helped us and got us to the stage of qualifying.”
Born in Suffolk, eight-week old pup Mac was taken home to Aberdeenshire by Gary
and started his training a short time after settling in.
Gary said: “Training starts very quickly, for instance with Mac, we allowed him
to play with his toys by himself for months and then one day we take the toy
away and hide it.
“Naturally, he’s annoyed and wants it back but the toy is only returned when he
barks - that’s how we build his play drive.
“It’s really important for him to have a high play drive because in reality,
searching and finding is just a big game to him.
He added: “If he searches, locates live human scent then barks he’s rewarded
with his toy.
“There’s a few different ways to achieve this outcome, but for Mac it was
started in the house - my wife would hide in different places and then reward
him for finding her.
“That’s then progressed further and we get to the stage we’re at today.”
Mac is now operational alongside current search and rescue dog Diesel – also
trained by Gary.
The two will now work together to help protect Scotland’s communities.
Gary explained: “Having two qualified dogs gives me an opportunity to use either
where required.
“I’ll be able to use them on a rotational basis which can help with things like
fatigue during long searches.
“Although Diesel is a bit older now he’s still fit, capable and happy so he’s
able to work on and doesn’t have a set time for retiral.”
The two dogs and Gary are on call and can be called out anywhere in the country
at a moment’s notice.
Group Manager Jim Quinn said: “As a national resource that can be used all over
Scotland the dogs are a really important asset.
“They are smaller, lighter and more agile than firefighters so they can be sent
into collapsed buildings – if safe to do so - where a person could disrupt the
rubble further and cause a secondary collapse.
“The dogs help with the safety of our firefighters but are also able to speedily
hone in on a specific area during a search meaning we can take a more targeted
approach when searching for someone.
“It’s fantastic to see Mac join Diesel – Gary and his family have done an
excellent job in training the dogs.
“While we hope that no one is ever in the situation where either dog is needed,
if the situation does arise we know that Diesel and Mac are able to assist
firefighters in getting to you.”
(SFRS WEB site, News section.
Publish
Date:
26 August 2019 By Steven O'Neill.)
Some of the Brigades before Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was formed had DOGS as mascots.
Diesel Photo SFRS.
Diesel's working Kit
Photo SFRS.
Top is our rope rescue harness, with
orange safety boots below, the red jacket on the left is a flotation jacket,
then our camera mount, doggles and normal harness with our red 3 in one jacket
at the bottom
Mac Photo SFRS
Ff Honeyman with Flint Photo SFRS