Painesville Township Fire Department Lt. Gordon Thompson and his accelerant detection K-9 Ian is ready whenever duty calls.
“I have to feed and train him 365 days a year,” Thompson said. “He never eats out of a bowl, I feed him out of my hand.”
Their dedication and preparedness was necessary when they were given less than 24 hour notice to investigate a fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The pair recently received that request from Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their first federal deployment.
Both Thompson and Ian attend The National Canine Training Center that trains them in accelerant detection and investigation protocols.