SUNDERLAND — The newest member of the Sunderland Fire Department meets all of the criteria: he’s specialized in search-and-rescue operations, he works well with the public, and to top it all off, he’s a very good boy.

Ranger, a 4-year-old German shepherd, was introduced to the public this month as the department’s search-and-rescue K-9. His journey, though, may have been a little different from other K-9s, as Ranger started out as just a pet owned by Sunderland firefighter Matt Manheim.

Manheim, who has served on the department for about two years, got Ranger in 2020 and figured he could help fill a “gap” in the agency’s operations, particularly for lost hikers on Mount Toby and Mount Sugarloaf.

“As firefighters, our job, in a nutshell, is problem-solving. If there’s an auto wreck, we have extrication tools; if there’s a fire, we have engines to put it out. I saw a gap in our service the first time we had a missing person — we didn’t have a tool for it,” Manheim said in an interview at the Sunderland Public Safety Complex. “I’ve always believed that if you have the ability to make a difference, you have an obligation to. Everybody on our department has their own little niche or area they specialize in, whether it be fire training, fire education, or, for me, it’s search and rescue.”

After undertaking general training with Ranger for a few years, Manheim decided he wanted to take the next step after seeing how much his pet enjoyed working. Ranger is nationally certified in search and rescue, and he works with the department at no cost to taxpayers, as Manheim holds his insurance policy and takes him home when work is done.

“As time went on, I realized that he was a working line. He needed a job and I had one for him,” Manheim joked. Working line German shepherds are bred for their performance and ability to work. “I had evaluated and found that not only is he good at it, but he also enjoys doing it. … From there, I saw a way that we could help our community.”

Fire Chief Steven Benjamin said Ranger is a welcome asset to the department and Manheim has approached his dog’s training and certification “in a very thoughtful and professional manner, just like the way he approaches firefighting.”

“When Matt approached me with the idea of utilizing Ranger for searches, I was interested because the Sunderland Fire Department is often called to find lost hikers on Mount Toby,” Benjamin wrote in an email. “Sometimes those folks are injured and time is of the essence — especially when inclement weather is in play. Incidents like that take up a lot of resources. To have a trained search canine in-house frees up outside resources [that] may be needed for other types of law enforcement matters.”

Ranger is not the only K-9 working in the county, as both the Greenfield and Erving police departments have dogs, but Manheim noted those are police dogs, which have different training and work expectations. Ranger is entirely dedicated to search and rescue.

Manheim added that there are other fire department K-9 units around the state, but Ranger is likely the only “live-find search-and-rescue dog” in Massachusetts. Live-find means locating a living person and returning them home safely, while other examples of fire department dogs include arson dogs and those that search for human remains. Currently, Ranger is able to follow scent trails that are up to 26 hours old and will likely be able to follow older trails as his training continues.

“We’ve been training consistently for a couple of years now. We’ve trained in every weather condition imagined, from rain, snow, sleet, heat,” Manheim said. “Any situation that I could imagine we might be called out for.”

He credits Clay Rushford, an instructor with the Athol-based training company Northeast Houndsmen, and independent trainer Adam Brougham, who also serves as the Belchertown Police Department’s K-9 handler, for helping train Ranger.

And while Ranger is Manheim’s pet, as well as a member of the Sunderland Fire Department, Manheim said he expects other agencies, like the Sunderland Police Department, will welcome the help.

“I’ve worked with the Northeast Houndsmen before and am confident that they worked and trained Ranger and his handler, Matt,” Police Chief Erik Demetropoulos said. “We’re excited to see what Ranger can do.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.