Police dog escapes car fire

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BY HILARY KINDSCHUH / Lincoln Journal Star

A Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputy had a scary moment when his brand new cruiser caught fire on Wednesday -- but it wasn’t the car he was worried about.

Deputy Jason Henkel’s police dog, Dax, was trapped inside the vehicle when it caught fire in the garage at the Hall of Justice, said Chief Deputy Bill Jarrett.

Around 4 p.m. Henkel, who had reported to work at 3:30 p.m., was talking with Jarrett and another deputy about how much he appreciated his new 2008 Ford Crown Victoria and the new canine deployment system in the vehicle when another deputy contacted him by radio from the garage to tell him his vehicle was on fire -- with his four-year-old German shepherd, Dax, trapped inside.

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Dax

Dax

“Needless to say, Deputy Henkel took off on a dead run,” Jarrett said.

Henkel pushed on the vehicle’s automatic door release as he ran toward the garage, Jarrett said. When Henkel got there, the car door opened and Dax got out of the smoky cruiser, covered in soot.

A couple of deputies put out the fire with extinguishers from their cruisers, Jarrett said.

Dax was taken to the vet Wednesday night, Jarrett said. The dog appears to be OK, but he was taken to the vet again Thursday morning for additional testing.

Henkel received the new cruiser late last week, Jarrett said.

The fire may have started in an electrical box that's part of the canine deployment system, Jarrett said. The box, which is valued at $984.95, was mounted between the back of the passenger seat and the cage in the back of the vehicle.

Luckily, the canine deployment system opens the windows when the car’s interior reaches a temperature of 70 to 72, Jarrett said. That probably alleviated some of the smoke, he said.

Jarrett said he did not know the extent of damage to the cruiser and its equipment, which together are valued around $55,000.

The sheriff’s office plans to contact the manufacturer of the canine deployment system to try to learn what caused the fire, Jarrett said.

Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com.