Meet Hertfordshire Fire Service's new dog: Thor

The five-month-old pooch has been recruited as apprentice to the current fire investigation dog, Regs.

He earned his name after Computacenter, sponsors of Hertfordshire’s fire investigation dogs, held a staff competition to suggest names for the pup, which were then voted on by a judging panel.

Clare Rafferty, head of corporate events at Computacenter, said: “Thor is a great choice for the new fire investigation dog. Thor, a superhero, was known to protect both gods and humans against the forces of evil using his deadly weapon the iron hammer, but in this case, Thor will be using his nose!

“We at Computacenter are very proud of our long-standing partnership with the fire and rescue service and can’t wait to watch Thor grow in to our very own superhero.”

Nikki Harvey, fire investigation dog handler and fire investigation support officer at Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, looks after both Thor and Reqs at home and at work.

“From what I have seen in the short period of time that Thor’s been with us, the name suits his character perfectly. It’s amazing to hear that Computacenter see our fire investigation dogs as superheroes," he said.

“Five-month-old Thor’s training is going well and he is already showing all the traits of becoming an amazing search dog. He certainly loves a tennis ball just as much as Reqs. Like Reqs, he will have to learn how to search for, locate and indicate on traces of ignitable liquids to assist us with our fire investigations to enable us to determine if a fire is deliberate or accidental.”

Thor is already attending fire scenes alongside Reqs so he can get used to the environment that he will be working in. This will continue until he is fully trained and can take over the role as our next fire investigation dog, allowing eight-year-old Reqs to retire next summer.

Chief Fire Officer and Darryl Keen said: “We’re delighted to continue working with Computacenter, who have sponsored our fire investigation dogs since 2000. Fire investigation dogs work with officers to help us understand how a fire has started, providing valuable evidence for police investigations in the case of arson.

“We’re excited to welcome Thor on board full time once he’s completed his training under the watchful eye of Reqs, who has supported fire investigations at a number of high profile incidents both in Hertfordshire and over the border with colleagues in other fire and rescue services.”

You can follow for updates from Thor and Reqs on Twitter www.twitter.com/reqsfiredog and on Thor’s brand new Instagram www.instagram.com/ThorFireDog