Cherry Brook Students Get Special Visit from Arson Dog

Sparky the Fire Dog is always a big hit at Cherry Brook Primary School. 

This year, however, students were treated to another special dog for Fire Prevention Week. Baxter, a state police accelerant detection K-9, and trooper Paul G. Makuc also showed the kids how keenly the black lab could sniff out tiny drops of flammable liquids often used by arsonists. 

With Baxter out of the room, Makuc put tiny droplets on several items in the room.

"He's going to show more where they are," Makuc said. 

With Baxter back in the room the kid yelled seek. From there the K-9 quickly honed in on the first, sat, pointed his nose at the spot and waited for his treat. 

Students laughed with excitement as Baxter repeated the exercise several times, finding each drop. 

Makuc told the students Baxter is just one of six such dogs that work for the state police. Baxter lives with Makuc and he told the students the black lab in most ways was just like any other dog and lived with him.  

As fun as the activity was it came with a serious message. Canton Fire Marshal Adam Libros gave the kids numerous fire safety tips. Members of the Canton Volunteer Fire and EMS Department suited up and crawled amongst the kids so they could see what a firefighter would look like if they ever had to be rescued. 

Libros gave the kids other tips as well, such as the importance of a home meeting place and fire detectors and told several stories about how such actions saved lives. 

At the end, it was outside to see some fire engines.