Reserve Captain Chuck Williams and his two-year-old black Labrador retriever named Cinder recently returned home to Orange County following a four-day long mission in Paradise, California.
The K9 and human search and rescue team was sent to help locate people who were reported missing by their families during the deadly Camp fire, which ripped through the area, burning over 153,000 acres, destroying thousands of homes, and killing dozens of people.
Captain Williams shared one of the stories he experienced during their mission to a room full of reporters and photographers. Williams is a veteran law enforcement officer and is part of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue Team. He handles Cinder and has trained her since she was a puppy. Cinder is a trained and certified human remains detection dog.
“The training aids that we use can run the spectrum. Everything from placentas to human bone that we acquire through different organizations,” said Williams.
Cinder has been trained to sit if she detects any remains.
The pair joined a strike team which also consisted of Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters. They were given a list of addresses belonging to people whose families haven’t been able to reach them since the outbreak of the Camp fire.
“We get to the address. We’re looking around. There are houses all around, but they’re all destroyed. There’s nothing standing,” said Williams.
One of the firefighters they were with spotted a cabin with smoke coming out of its chimney. The team traversed down the hill and approached the home.
“We found a 91-year-old male suffering from dementia with his caregiver,” said Williams.
The elderly man and his caregiver had been waiting for help to come for days. They had enough food and water inside their home.
“They were on the missing list. So that’s where we rejoiced. It’s like are you kidding me? We found somebody alive? I mean we were high-fiving and having a good time,” said Williams.
This was the highlight for Williams and Cinder. They had stopped by other homes in the area that were part of their list, but weren’t able to find anyone else. Returning home, Williams told reporters he couldn’t be any prouder of Cinder.
“With that training and all the certification that she goes through I have 100 percent confidence that when she comes near a target whether it’s in Montecito or up in Paradise, that she’s going to do her job and she will alert,” said Williams.
Cinder and Williams’ first mission together was in Montecito earlier this year in January after the town was hit with a huge mudflow covering the area and killing residents.
At the end of their work day, one thing is clear. Williams sees Cinder as something more than just his coworker.
“I have three adult children. I have two grandchildren and I think of Cinder as one of my children. We’re that close. We spend that much time together,” said Williams.