Local firefighter Eric Siwik and his new four-legged partner, Kyoto, are set to graduate April 26 from the federal Accelerant and Explosives Detection Canines program in Virginia, the Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s Office announced this week.
“(We are) excited to share that our training of Canine Handler Erik Siwik and Canine Kyoto is going well,” WSFMO Public Information Officer Nick Hudson said in a press release Tuesday. “The training is going great and the weekly evaluations from the instructors and training show that both Siwik and Kyoto are doing very well and work well together.”
At this point in the training – week four with ATF Accelerant Detection Class No. 149 – Hudson said Siwik and Kyoto “have learned everything from basic K9 handling skills (to) taking care of the K9 and first aid.”
“There have been numerous searches in structures, vehicles, open field and tree line scenarios to master their skills,” Hudson said. “Many of the fires are ‘old’ in nature but still very beneficial to us. Meaning they have previously occurred but are kept as a training to ensure that the skills needed are covered before graduation.”
The next few weeks will allow for further fine-tuning of their skills, introduction to the ATF research lab, and working with the ATF on the process for a National Response Team call as well as the brief, Hudson said; the certification process will be covered last.
“We will have more (information) when they have graduated and are back in Wyoming,” Hudson said.
Siwik currently serves as the training coordinator at the Wyoming Fire Academy in Riverton, and he is a volunteer firefighter in Lander – as is Hudson, who also serves as a fire inspector in Fremont and Carbon counties for the Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety.
For more information, email [email protected].