Bella Heads to the "Big Apple"

Lakeside: For the last 18 months, Fire Engineer Rich Smith has been working feverishly with his black Labrador "Bella" to complete her training as a FEMA search dog. Attached to San Diego US&R Task Force 8, Bella will join an elite group of K9's specially trained to locate victims buried in collapsed structures.

Bella successfully locates San Diego Firefighter Brent Brainard at the Tom Owen Training Facility. Handlers use this "alert tube" drill to sharpen their dogs skills.

But before these dogs can join the team, they must pass a rigorous series of evaluations that not only test the dogs, but evaluate the handlers ability to "work" the animal in disaster situations. This November, both Rich and Bella will travel to New York City to participate in a Search Specialist Certification test. If successful, Bella will become an asset of the Task Force that can be deployed to disasters throughout the world.

Bella 18 months ago, just after being paired up the Engineer Smith.

Bella will require re-certification every three years to remain on the team. Good Luck Rich and Bella!



Submitted By: Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District

Lakeside Search Dog Featured on Local News

Lakeside: Bella, the 2 year old black lab currently assigned to Lakeside Fire Engineer Rich Smith, was recently featured on a KFMB story about a FEMA sponsored "Canine Search Specialist Class" taking place in San Diego County. The week long course gives handlers and search team managers exposure to the abilities of these dogs. So unique are the abilities of these trained animals search teams often need to be exposed to the dogs to really grasp their full potential.

A portion of the class was held at the Lakeside Land Company, who opened up their property for this valued training.. Lakeside Land Co. has been a long time supporter of this program, and has provided space for local search dogs to train, including Bella.

SDFD USAR-CA TF-8 hosted the class. Currently there are 6 dogs assigned to this team. Bella is the black lab featured in the video.



Bella hopes to receive her FSA certification soon, which would allow her to be sent on incidents within California.. After that she will need to received advanced certification to be deployable outside of the state,.

Submitted By: Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District