The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reports that half of all intentional structure fires are started in the home. These fires result in 85 percent of the civilian deaths, 82 percent of civilian injuries and 64 percent of direct property damage from intentional structure fires.

Five percent of fires in homes are intentionally started.

The F.B.I.’s 2008 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics showed that 14,011 law enforcement agencies reported 62,807 arsons. Arsons involving structures (e.g. residential, storage, public, etc.) accounted for 43.4 percent of the total number of arson offenses. Mobile property (e.g. cars, motorcycles, etc.) was involved in 28.9 percent of arsons, and other types of property (crops, timber, fences, etc.) accounted for the other 27.7 percent of reported arsons.

Average dollar loss for all types of arson was $16,015 per incident. For structures, arson damages averaged $32,364 and $7,890 for motor vehicles.

Arsons of industrial and manufacturing structures resulted in the highest loss—an average of $212,388 per arson.

The national arson conviction rate is one percent. Hidalgo County’s arson conviction rate is 26 percent.

Clean up your neighborhood by removing all garbage, materials, and excess vegetation that is capable of being ignited.

Remove sources of ignition such as old gasoline containers.

Remove abandoned vehicles (most car fires are set to cover up other crimes) and keep a close eye on abandoned homes, which are frequent targets for vandalism and arson.

Contact public works to disconnect all utilities at abandoned properties, including natural gas, water and electricity.

Encourage a neighborhood watch system. Write down suspicious people’s characteristics, cars and actions.

Deputy Fire Marshals Wesley Bradley and Marco Romero pose with their new co-workers Shark and Outlaw at the Canine Academy in Austin, Texas.

For Arson Awareness Week May 2-8, 2010

When a prank caller phoned a 911 dispatcher on April 28 and threatened that a bomb might explode at the Hidalgo County Courthouse, hundreds of employees and citizens evacuated the building, but Shark and his handler Deputy Fire Marshal Wesley Bradley strode right in. Shark’s nose went straight to the ground; he searched all five floors of the 1950s building — with its numerous nooks and crannies — searching for a device armed with incendiary explosives.  When they found nothing, security declared the site safe and employees were allowed to come back to work. Shark got a pat on the head and some time with a chew toy.

Shark and his buddy Outlaw, both Golden Labrador Retrievers, were rescued from a shelter in Central Texas only one short year earlier. Today, they are the newest employees of the Hidalgo County Fire Marshal’s Office. Searching for incendiary bombs and accelerants is all in a day’s work.

“An accelerant detection dog can detect one nanogram of gasoline in a 15-foot-deep debris pile. Their sense of smell is 220 million times stronger than a human’s. They are a living, breathing scientific machine,” Bradley said. “There was a need in this community to have this resource.”

In addition to responding to bomb threats, assisting with wildfire management, issuing burn permits, conducting fire prevention activities, assessing buildings, and assisting Hidalgo County Emergency Management, the Hidalgo County Fire Marshal’s Office investigates on average over 200 structure fires per year, 40 percent of which are determined to be arson cases. 

There are few witnesses in arson cases, said Juan Martinez, Hidalgo County Fire Marshal. So it helps that the fire marshals can hit the streets as soon as possible to gather intelligence. Taking days to determine the source of a fire is oftentimes frustrating and time consuming.

“The dogs help us to be more efficient, and more thorough,” Martinez said. 

Accelerant detection dogs don’t come cheap, though, and Bradley was aware that approaching county budget handlers with a $12,000 request during a time of budget cuts might not go over so well.

So instead, Bradley approached his co-workers with an idea, and together, they created the RGV Arson Dog Association to raise the money to purchase Shark and Outlaw. The non-profit organization formed in March 2009, and the fire marshals held various fundraisers and solicited funds while off-duty from businesses sympathetic to the cause. In March 2010, after four vigorous months of training at the Canine Academy in Austin and another two to three weeks in training with Bradley and Deputy Fire Marshal Marco Romero, the dogs once destined to be euthanized had found loving homes and jobs with Hidalgo County.

“We raised the money and donated the dogs back to Hidalgo County,” Bradley said. “And they are available to any other jurisdiction in the region that needs help in investigating structure fires.”

The word is still getting out about Shark and Outlaw, Martinez said. The labs have been working with the Fire Marshal’s Office for about two months and have been deployed on more than 20 incidents.

Shark lives with Bradley, while Outlaw lives with Romero. Their personalities are as different as night and day. Shark will do anything for food, but Outlaw — “he’s his own dog,” Romero said. When not out on an assignment, Bradley and Romero engage in dog training and conditioning and practice upkeep on the animals.

“We can’t let them get used to the ‘pet lifestyle,’ even though they do live with us,” Romero said. “We do have to draw that line. We develop a bond, but they are not the family pet.”   

Martinez said he sees a good future for Shark and Outlaw with the Hidalgo County Fire Marshal’s Office.

“The dogs are utilized every day, and we even see other uses aside from fire investigation.  Shark and Outlaw can also track humans, so in the event of a search and rescue operation, we have this valuable resource,” he said. “They aren’t biting dogs either, so Shark and Outlaw will become a valuable education tool.

“Arson is a costly crime. It increases insurance premiums, damages property values, and drives out business. It destroys more than buildings. It affects whole communities. During Arson Awareness Week, we want to bring to the public’s attention the resources and support to abate this crime.”