Members of the Orange County Fire Authority celebrated the retirement of the authority’s Accelerant Detection K-9, Freedom, finding it difficult Thursday to have said goodbye to a trusted and hard working arson investigator.

Wednesday was National Fire Pup Day and the OCFA used the occasion to celebrate Freedom’s many years of distinguished service to the department and the community.

Throughout his career, Freedom helped investigate arson cases, kept Orange County communities safe and attended community events, the fire authority said. As an Accelerant Detection Canine, Freedom could detect ignitable liquids to help investigators determine the cause of fires.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2019 that Freedom was the only K-9 certified to detect accelerants by the Bureau of Alcohol, T

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