The Fire Investigation Dog Team works as part of the Community Protection Directorate at Service Headquarters in Eastbourne. The aim of the Fire Investigation Dog is to work as part of the fire investigation team and assist Fire Investigation Officers in determining the cause of the fire. The dog is also used as a deterrent to reduce arson in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove.

Introducing Sam

Sam is a very energetic and enthusiastic liver and white English Springer Spaniel. He was born in February 2004 and bred specifically as a search dog, his mother was formerly a trained drug detection dog and his father an explosives dog.

Sam was trained by SCS International in Lancashire. He lives at home with his handler Sarah Jones. Sarah has over 30 years’ experience with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, based at both Lewes and Eastbourne.

After completing an intensive training course in Lancashire and passing several examinations, Sarah and Sam went operational in East Sussex in mid February 2005 and became one of only a few licenced teams working in the UK. Since then, Sam has attended approximately 200 fire scenes in nine different Fire and Rescue Services across the south east region – Sarah’s aim is to complete the set and attend an incident in Buckinghamshire before Sam retires!

Sarah and Sam train regularly with instructors from Surrey Police Dog Training School to ensure that they maintain their competence and operational status.

Sarah and Sam have appeared on BBC’s Inside Out and Channel 5’s Extraordinary Dogs series. Sam is so popular he has his own Facebook fan club; to keep up to date on the lighter side of the life a working Fire Investigation Search Dog add Firedog Sam to your Facebook friends.

Sarah and Sam would like to thank Nestlé Purina Pro Plan for their continued support.