New K-9 Accelerant Detection team taking over in Delaware

DELAWARE- The Delaware Office of the State Fire Marshal has a new member on their team.

His name is P.J. He’s now Delaware’s State Farm Arson dog and his paired with Deputy Fire Marshal Michael Pfaffenhauser. This team will be taking over for the retiring team Chief Deputy Fire Marshal John Galaska and K-9 Tanya.

The K-9 Accelerant Detection team called to fires to detect if an accelerant was used at the scene.

We’re told P.J. is the only Accelerant Detection K-9 in Delaware making the jobs of first responders easier.

“Withougt P.J. we would have to make a best educated guess where we believe, if we believe, there’s ignitable liquids, collect that sample and then send it to a lab to be verified,” Deputy Fire Marshal Michael Pfaffenhauser said. “With P.J., P.J. can more or less tell us exactly where it’s at.”

We’re told PJ’s training was provided by State Farm through their Arson Dog Program partnered with Paul Gallagher and his trainers with Maine Specialty Dogs. This is the fifth team trained for the Office of the State Fire Marshal in Delaware.