FULLERTON : Jesse Earns His Keep in a Single Sniff

The Fountain Valley house was still smoldering when Jesse, a playful, ebony Labrador retriever, sniffed through the blackened remains of the garage.

His sensitive nose quickly struck pay dirt: a minute trace of flammable liquid that has led arson investigators to conclude that a Wednesday morning fire that left a paraplegic hospitalized had been intentionally set.

“Jesse was able to go in there and do the work he was trained to do,” said his handler, Fullerton firefighter Chuck Czuleger.

Jesse and Czuleger are a one-of-a-kind pair in Orange County: a canine unit specializing in investigating arson.

Jesse, based in Fullerton, has the olfactory capacity to find traces of flammable liquids that people often overlook.

While dogs are used extensively for attacking and finding bombs, Jesse is the first dog in the county to be an arson investigator. He is trained to sniff out and find eight flammable liquids commonly used in arson fires, ranging from gasoline to denatured alcohol, Czuleger said.

The longtime trainer of guide dogs said he had heard of arson canine units in other counties--there are four other arson dogs in California--and approached his fire chief earlier this year with the idea of buying a puppy.

When he was told the department had no money to spare, Czuleger began raising private money to pay for a dog, a K-9 car and training.

In August, he found Jesse.

Jesse was then 18 months old and stood out among the rest of the dogs at Cherry Valley Kennel because of his rambunctious nature, Czuleger said. The best dogs for detection purposes are active and playful.

“The dog has to have a strong play drive,” Czuleger said. “What they are looking for is their toy. For them, the toy is what we train them to find.”

Jesse passed his first big test Wednesday morning in Fountain Valley, where he found traces of a flammable liquid near the garage, where the fire started, indicating that an arsonist was responsible.

Jesse has also become a fixture in the firehouse, offering companionship during the long shift. “He loves to play,” firefighter Ray Sadler said as he watched Czuleger and Jesse wrestle playfully next to a firetruck. “He’ll pick up just about anything that’s lying around. He sure makes it more enjoyable here.”