PONTIAC, Mich. --
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office lost a valued member of their team Wednesday when Blaze, a service canine, died of a cancer related illness.
Blaze, a German shepherd born on Dec. 15, 2004, was the only K-9 on the team assigned to the Sheriff's Fire Investigations unit and trained in arson investigations.
He completed the five week K-9 training in July 2006 with his handler Deputy Tom Kangas, and the two would go on to work together until Blaze's death.
"Blaze was another member of our family and we will miss him tremendously," said Kangas.
Throughout Blaze's career, he responded to 220 calls for service in arson-related investigations and was responsible for the arrests of 37 different people for arson-related crimes.
"Blaze was a valued and loyal member of the OCSO team and we will miss him very much," said Sheriff Michael Bouchard. "Even though his career was short, he had an outstanding record of service in arson investigation."
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