Use of Human Remains Detection Dogs for Wide Area Search After Wildfire: A New Experience for Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue Resources

Abstract

In September 2011, wildfires in Bastrop County, TX, were the most destructive in the state's history, consuming more than 34000 acres (13759 hectares) and more than 1600 homes in the process. The wildfires began by consuming more than 30 homes across 2 miles (3.2 km) in 17 minutes, raising the fear that local residents may not have had sufficient time to escape the conflagration. Texas Task Force 1 deployed for a new mission, the search and recovery of human remains. Although there have been other larger and more widespread fires in the past, it was the speed at which this fire spread that created the environment requiring such a search. The mission was focused primarily on human detection, searching an area almost 72 square miles (186 km(2)) between September 7 and 11, 2011. To our knowledge, never before have human remains detection dogs been tasked with such an undertaking. Lessons learned from this event will educate all levels of government agencies, emergency medical services, fire departments, law enforcement, utilities, veterinary services, and search and rescue/recovery activities in the future. The utilization of human remains detection canines integrated with search teams trained in larger scale events is one such area that will benefit from this experience, with a final area searched of 15 598 acres (6312 hectares).