Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue Dogs Help Look For Victims of the Erskine Fire

Three dogs from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team and their handlers assisted in the Erskine Fire’s burn areas.

The teams included Juanita Smith and her dog “Chaos,” Tracee Walker and “Mojo” and Sheila Malavasi and “Rica.”

12 dogs from California were sent to Kern County to assist in building searches. So far, the fire destroyed 285 homes and killed two residents.

The dogs are trained and certified through the California Rescue Dog Association to search for human remains.

“We did the job that we were tasked to do and that was to search the burned houses basically for any signs of human remains,” said Juanita Smith, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Volunteer and owner of Chaos.

In scorching temperatures, the handler and dog teams searched through the rubble for any signs of human life.

“It all has to do with wind and scent conditions and where the scent blows and where it might land,” said Tracee Walker, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy and owner of Mojo.

Chaos is a 2-year-old Border Collie who has been training since she was 14-weeks-old. Her owner, Juanita Smith, is a volunteer for the search and rescue team. Smith says every handler owns their dog and puts them through training and certifications on their own.

Mojo is an 8-year-old Border Collie who has been deployed 10 times to search for human remains. She is considered a veteran in the search and rescue team.

The teams spent 1-2 days in Kern County.