It's been a good long run for Blaze, the German Shepard who's made headlines over the past few years for helping sniff out AutoZone robbery suspects from a ceiling in Brooklyn, matched the scent of a gun left in the Bronx to its suspected owner, and found a body in the rubble of a fire in the Bronx. And now, nine year-old Blaze is retiring in Staten Island, where he'll live with his handler, Officer Benny Colvecchio. more ›

Some more details about the AutoZone robbery on 86th Street in Brooklyn: K9 pup Blaze helped find a couple of the suspects. According to the Daily News, "Two of the robbers tried to hide inside the store's drop-down ceiling, police sources said. But the German shepherd easily sniffed them out, and barked to show his comrades the hiding spot." Blaze's barking scared one robber out, but "The other one, a 25-year-old woman, fought with cops - but Blaze put a stop to that. That robber ended up with her arm in a sling as a result of Blaze's bite." The third suspect tried to pose as an AutoZone employee, but was busted when he didn't know the store's phone number. Fun fact: Blaze also really loves guns and looks supercute when carrying one. more ›

The Harvard Law School grad accused of setting a fire inside a 9/11 memorial has pleaded not guilty. The lawyer representing 27-year-old Brian Schroeder says his client was "profoundly intoxicated" when the fire broke out and that he "has very limited memories of being inside the building," where he allegedly torched teddy bears, flowers, notes, and other mementos last fall. After the incident, Schroder reportedly told police: "It felt like an adventure, and I thought I was dreaming." more ›

Today a judge overturned the conviction of a landlord whose illegally subdivided Bronx building caught fire in 2005, killing two firefighters as they struggled to find an exit. The firemen's widows were enraged by the decision, reports the Daily News. "The scar has just been opened up again and again and again," said Jeanette Meyran, whose husband died on what's come to be known as Black Sunday. "It's such an abuse of the system." more ›

Last night a woman clung to an air conditioner to escape the fire that was ravaging her Bronx apartment. After climbing out onto the unit she lost her hold and fell, but survived with a broken leg. "She was hanging on to the air conditioner and she lost her grip," said a neighbor who witnessed the amazing escape. "She did not scream. She hit the steps and bounced." The woman was still conscious when firefighters arrived at her side. “'There's somebody else up there,” she told the FDNY’s Rocco Cocciolillo, who fought the “real big blaze.” more ›

Relatives say a Bensonhurst baby who fractured her skull when her mother threw her from the window of a flaming building is getting better and expected to survive. Three-month old Maria Maura Chan has had a series of operations and will undergo therapy for her sight and hearing, reports the AP. Her 2-year-old big brother is unharmed, since he was caught by a neighbor, however the mother Maria Chan was one of five Guatemalan immigrants killed in the fire. Demon-hearing, vodka-loving building resident Daniel Ignacio is accused of starting the blaze intentionally with lighter fluid and a roll of toilet paper, though he claims it was an accident. more ›

An 11-year-old boy perished in a high-rise fire in Coney Island on Tuesday when he was left alone in his family's apartment. The fire broke out on the 15th floor of the Ocean Towers building on W. 24th street at around 12:15 pm, according to the Daily News. The boy's grandmother had left the apartment to go to the store just before the blaze broke out, and reportedly "broke down and wept when she returned home and saw the boy's lifeless body." The boy's name has not yet been released. "They were pumping his heart," witness Elphine Ahrendts, 14, told the tabloid. "His eyes were red [and] he only had on underwear ... He wasn't breathing ... They couldn't help him." more ›

A fire broke out in a Bronx public housing project this afternoon, leaving residents "hanging from the windows" until firefighters arrived. According to police scanner reports, the blaze erupted in a building in the Pelham Parkway Houses near the corner of Pelham Parkway and Wallace Avenue. The scanner indicates the fire injured nine people, one of them seriously. ABC reports the fire started on the fifth floor at around 2 pm and injured five people, though none of them suffered life threatening injuries. more ›

With fires breaking out right and left—including one that originated in a furniture shop and wiped out a row of beloved mom-and-pop stores this weekend—Queens lawmakers are now saying there may not be time to make massive cuts to the FDNY. Mayor Bloomberg had previously proposed getting rid of 20 fire companies around the city, as well as those quaint street fire alarm boxes. According to NY1, Councilman Daniel Dromm and Assemblyman Jose Peralta say the Queens fire "proves the city needs to find a way to keep all of its firehouses open." Demolition crews are clearing out what's left of the eight businesses that were destroyed in Jackson Heights. Meanwhile, the city's other recent fire victims, especially those of a Brooklyn fire that killed five, continue to mourn and recoup from their losses. more ›

A Buildings Department investigation into the Bensonhurst tenement where a fire killed five has proved what many suspected—that the building was an illegally subdivided death-trap, where escape was nearly impossible. The Daily News says as many as 15 people—all Guatemalan immigrants—were crowded onto its third floor thanks to three illegally-built walls. Since fire escapes were blocked for some units, the only exit was the smoky collapsing stairwell, where the fire was set, allegedly by second-floor resident Daniel Ignacio. more ›

A Brooklyn mom is charged with endangering the lives of her two young sons, after a fire broke out in her East New York apartment yesterday when they were home alone. Milagros Perez left her two-year-old and four-year-old for 25 minutes just before the fire started, officials say. Firefighters were able to find the two boys in the smoky apartment—both were unconscious and not breathing, but now are expected to survive. "When you find somebody, especially a kid, it gets you going," one firefighter told NY1. "It gets the blood flowing and it's pretty exciting. Especially when you get them outside and you are able to bring them back to life." No word on how the fire started. Last week a heroic mom perished in another Brooklyn fire after throwing her two kids from a window and saving them. more ›

Check out this cute K-9 dog who helped cops find a man who was brandishing a gun on a city bus! According to the Daily News, Blaze, a 7-year-old "gun-loving" German shepherd, took a gun that was left under a car at 225th and White Plains Road in the Bronx. While carrying the gun in his mouth, the pup matched "the scent on the weapon to the scent on the pavement" and "tracked the suspect more than a block and a half. With his handler, Officer Benny Colecchia, at his side, Blaze zeroed in on a backyard on E. 227th St., where identical twins were playing dominos." The fun with dominos ended, because Rahsheim Francis, 17, was charged with weapon possession. And the gun turned out to be a BB gun. more ›