Two FDNY Busted for Arson

In what is being described in some news reports as a terribly misguided Halloween prank, two city firefighters were arrested and charged with arson for setting a small blaze outside of a Midtown firehouse.

From the FDNY:

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced the arrest of two New York City firefighters who used a flammable liquid and set fire to a Manhattan firehouse early Saturday morning. Fire marshals and investigators from the city's Department of Investigation arrested Michael Izzo, 30, and Richard Capece, 31, and charged them with Arson in the Second Degree, Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree - all felonies. The two men are accused of using a flammable liquid to ignite the firehouse apparatus door at Engine 34/Ladder 21 at 440 West 38th Street. The incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. Saturday, October 27. A firefighter working at the time noticed smoke from the fire seeping into the firehouse and alerted members on duty, who quickly extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported. The two suspects have been taken to the 5th Precinct for processing. Commissioner Scoppetta called the incident "an outrageous, depraved act that should be prosecuted to the full extent under the law." If convicted of the charges, both men face termination from the FDNY. Izzo, of Staten Island, a six-year veteran, is assigned to Engine 242 in Brooklyn. Capece, a Brooklyn resident, has been with the Department for five years and works at Engine 1 in Manhattan.