Sheriff’s Office loses four-legged arson investigator
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 01:08PM Thursday, December 17, 2009
By ANN ZANIEWSKI
Of The Oakland Press
The Oakland County Sheriff ’s Office is mourning the loss of a canine who had a knack for sniffing out cases of arson.
Blaze, a German shepherd, died Monday, one day before his fifth birthday. He had a cancer-related illness.
“Blaze was a valued and loyal member of the OCSO team and we will miss him very much,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement released Wednesday.
“Even though his career was short, he had an outstanding record of service in arson investigation.”
Blaze was assigned to the Sheriff ’s Fire Investigations Unit. He was the only dog at the Sheriff ’s Office trained in arson investigation.
Born in Holland, Blaze was purchased with a $5,000 donation from Farm Bureau Insurance Company.
Blaze and his handler, Deputy Tom Kangas, graduated in July 2006 from an intensive five-week training session at the Oakland Police Academy.
Blaze responded to at least 220 calls for service and played a role in the arrest of 37 people for arson-related crimes during his career with the Sheriff ’s Office.
On his very first day on the job, Blaze helped Pontiac police officers and firefighters by detecting two separate areas where accelerant was used to start a fire at a church.
He also detected accelerants on a person who eventually confessed to starting a fire at a Royal Oak school that caused more than $1 million in damage.
Kangas said in addition to working on fire investigations, Blaze helped with building and area searches. He also provided officer protection.
“He was a real pleasure to work with. I really had no problems with him from day
one, at home or at work,” Kangas said.
Blaze lived in Howell with Kangas and his wife, Rebecca, and their 10 children, who range in age from 4 to 19. He had a good temperament and loved playing catch with children of all ages. Blaze, who recently had not been eating that much, was diagnosed with lymphoma Dec. 8. He had his first dose of chemotherapy a week ago today.
He died early Monday morning at home.
“Blaze will never be replaced. They’re like humans — nobody’s the same,” Kangas said. “He seemed like the best dog.”
Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at (248) 745-4628 or ann.zaniewski@oakpress. com.
