State Farm® Safe Neighbors - Auto Safety

The State Farm Arson Dog Program

Arson Dog Program Application

As the nation's largest homeowners insurer, we’re well aware of the severity of arson. Each year billions of dollars worth of property and hundreds of lives are lost as a result of fires set by arsonists. Add indirect costs – lost jobs, lost property tax revenue, higher insurance premiums and tax money spent to investigate and prosecute arson – and the total annual arson bill jumps much higher. State Farm® underwrites the program costs because arson is a serious problem for everyone in society and it is important that law enforcement officials have every tool possible to combat this costly and oftentimes deadly crime.

With an arson dog, investigators can quickly pinpoint the location of accelerant residue, which saves the arson investigator time at a fire scene. What once took a person hours or days to uncover, a dog can now find in a matter of minutes.

Because the K-9 has a superior ability to discriminate among scents at a fire scene, the investigator takes fewer samples to the laboratory, thus reducing the cost to the department and, ultimately, the taxpayer. The presence of a canine team has led to a reduction of arson fires in communities.

Through fire-setter prevention programs and community demonstrations, the arson dog teams have made an impact on communities.

Arson Dog - Arson Fact Sheet
In recent years, the incidence of arson has reached virtual epidemic proportions in the United States. The precise dimension of the problem is elusive because statistics are based as much on informed estimates as on provable facts.

2005 Fire and Arson Stats:

• Estimated 1,602,000 fires in the United States
• Estimated $10,672,000,000 in direct property loss
• 3,657 civilian fire fatalities
• 17,925 civilian fire injuries
• Estimated 31,500 intentionally set structure fires occurred in 2005.
• Estimated 315 civilian deaths due to intentionally set structure fires.
• Estimated $664 million in property loss due to intentionally set fires.
• Estimated 21,000 intentionally set vehicle fires.
• Estimated $113 million in property loss.