EL CAJON FIRE 9/11 SEARCH & RESCUE DOG DIES

September 9, 2009 (El Cajon)--One of El Cajon’s original disaster search dogs “Sherman”, has died due to health issues related to his age. Sherman became a part of the El Cajon Fire Department in 1997 through a partnership with the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. Sherman was partnered with his handler, El Cajon Fire Captain Steve Swaney.

After becoming certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster search work, Sherman, along with his handler, was available to serve anywhere in the United States at a moments notice. The call for service was never more important than on September 11, 2001.

On that day, Captain Swaney, along with Sherman, received the request to respond with an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to the World Trade Center in New York. Captain Swaney and Sherman arrived in New York that night (within 24 hours of the collapse) and worked at the site for ten days looking for survivors.

In addition to the World Trade Center response, Swaney and Sherman have also responded to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and a local bluff collapse in San Diego.

Sherman’s nickname was the “Sherman Tank”. He would stop at nothing to find the victim he was looking for. “These highly trained search dogs are a valuable and scarce resource to our community; Sherman was an important part of our fire service family and he will be greatly missed,” said Fire Chief Mike Scott.