Fdny K9 Named For Fire Marshal From Westchester Who Died On 9/11 Named 'Top Dog'

FDNY K9 Bucca - named after Tuckahoe resident Ronald P. Bucca, a 23-year veteran of the FDNY - and his handler, Fire Marshal Joseph DiGiacomo, were awarded the honor of Top Dog in the category of Accelerant Detection at last week’s United States Police Canine Association’s 2019 National Detector Dog Trials in Albany.

Bucca serves as a member of the FDNY Bureau of Fire investigations, and was named after the former Tuckahoe resident who was among the 343 FDNY members that died following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

DiGiacomo said that Bucca was found wandering the streets upstate, and they’ve been working together for two years and he’s “never seen a dog try as hard as he does.”

“He’s all business as a working dog, and has overcome so much to get to this point,” he said. “During the competition, we completed four scenarios – room searches, where we searched three rooms for burnt materials; a vehicle search with three separate cars; an open-area search in high brush; and an article search. Bucca now holds the title of the number one dog in the nation for accelerant detection, and we are so proud of him.” 

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