CHELSEA PIERS (WPIX)—
The city's "luckiest dog" died and his owner was injured when a fire broke out on their house boat docked at Chelsea Piers early Friday morning, fire officials say.The fire began just before 3 a.m. at Pier 59, located at 62 N. River near the Chelsea Piers golf range. The raging flames consumed the 35-foot cabin boat, spread to a second boat and damaged part of the dock as well.
The man who lived on the boat, 42-year-old Mark Stoss, was rescued and transported to Bellevue Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.
But Stoss' four-year-old German shepherd Chloe died in the fire. Chloe was dubbed the city's "luckiest dog" after the NYPD rescued her when she fell into the freezing Hudson River on January 7.
It took firefighters about an hour to bring Friday's fire under control.
FDNY Chief Christopher Boyle said at the time of the fire, it was low tide. As a result, bigger FDNY boats were not able get near the boat and fire hoses from the ground were used. Icy surfaces also presented some problems to firefighters responding to the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
