LONGMONT — The class of second-graders at Fall River Elementary School sat on the carpet, legs crossed, waiting for a special visitor. Their heads perked up as the door began to open, and whispers of anticipation circulated through the room.
“Shadow,” one of the children called as the yellow Lab with a red leash came into the room with his tail wagging.
The rest of the class echoed with “oohs,” “aahs” and giggles as Shadow was led into the classroom by his handler, Longmont firefighter Mike Manzo.
Shadow is a trained K-9 who works with the Longmont Fire Department in arson investigation to sniff out the exact point where a fire started.
He visited second-graders at Fall River on Thursday, along with Manzo and Stephanie Blanch, safety education coordinator with the Longmont Fire Department, to teach students about fire prevention.
Over the next few months, Manzo, Blanch and Shadow will visit more than 1,100 second-graders at 19 schools in the Longmont area, Blanch said.
“Shadow’s main function is fire work, but to do things like this at schools is really incredible,” Manzo said. “Shadow really enjoys working with the kids.”
Manzo and Shadow are called to help investigate about 100 fires a year throughout Colorado and have helped collect evidence that has resulted in 39 arrests since August 2004. The dog is able to detect 93 different kinds of accelerants, Manzo said.
Manzo demonstrated Shadow’s skills by placing several metal containers filled with burned materials on the floor in front of the students. In one of the containers, he placed a single drop of 50 percent evaporated gasoline.
“Let’s see if we can mess with Shadow and try to trick him,” he told the class as he rearranged the containers. “It’s like hide-and-seek.”
But Shadow wasn’t fooled. He found the container with the gasoline three different times, each within a span of seconds.
The children clapped and cheered each time Shadow found the right container.
“Kids relate to Shadow because he reminds them of their own pets,” Blanch said. “You can trust a dog, and the kids get the feeling that Shadow is keeping them safe.”
Seven-year-old Chelsea Engelhard said she thought it was neat how Shadow found the right container every time and wanted to try to teach her dog how to do the same trick but didn’t think she’d be able to.
“I have to train my dog just to lie down,” Chelsea said.
Blanch has been visiting schools and talking with students about fire safety for more than 10 years, although this is only the second year she has brought Shadow along.
The response from teachers and parents has been positive, she said, but the best part of the program is the effect it has had on kids.
In 1994, the year before Blanch started working with the fire department, 25 percent of the fires in Longmont were started by children, she said. But by 2005, that amount had dropped to less than 1 percent.
“Kids are very impressionable, so we want to start early teaching them about fire,” Manzo said.
“We hope that being safe just becomes part of everyday life for them,” Blanch said, “just like brushing your teeth.”