Maui: These highly-trained dogs are on mission to find wildfire victims

As the Hawaiian island of Maui recovers from the deadly wildfires, specialised search dogs have been pressed into service to search for the missing victims. These cadaver dogs can distinguish human remains from those of pets and other animals.

At least 20 cadaver dogs havebeen working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rescue teams since Monday (August 14), supporting state and local officials, combing through the ashes.

Each cadaver dog that is currently involved with the search operation has to undergo a year of intense training, Even then, it takes a dog born with a particular personality to comb through the ashes and find the human remains, according to Mary Cablk, an expert in detection and systems at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, where such canines are trained.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“Dogs that really want to play, that are obsessive about their toy, that are confident and agile, that are not afraid of loud noises or weird surfaces, bring a lot to the table,” Cablk was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The dogs can search up to a couple of dozen homes’ burned down “footprints” each day. However, the number varies, depending on the conditions. According to Cablk, cadaver dogs are trained to not get excited when they find human remains. Unlike other trained dogs which run to the handler all excited, the dogs working fires will simply lay down once they have found something.

The cadaver dogs, akin to other caninetraining dogs, receive a reward upon the completion of the task. If they successfully locate the remains, the handler gives them a chew toy to play with.

Watch |Maui wildfires among the deadliest in US history | WION Climate Tracker

Task remains monumental

Despite the dogs and their uncanny ability to detect human flesh amid the ashes, the task remains monumental. Over 1,300 are still reported missingon the island.

The Maui wildfirehas been ranked the fifth-deadliest wildland fire in US history. The fires started on August 8 and have since killed at least 101 people. The death toll has surpassed the Camp Fire wildfire in California which spread across Butte County in November 2018 and claimed the lives of 85 people.

The deadliest wildfire in US history remains the October 1871 wildfire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin where over 1,500 were killed.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: