Two firefighters have been accused of arson at a city firehouse in the Clinton neighborhood in Manhattan over the week-end. The news is still a shock for their colleagues, superiors and for members of the community.

One local resident said: “This is unprecedented, I’ve never heard of it. [I’m] totally in a state of shock… These are our heroes. For something like this to occur is amazing.”

“I don't believe a word of it,” added another. “Firemen don't start fires, they put it out. I think the firemen get a bad rap, actually.”

Michael Izzo, 30, from Staten Island and Richard Capece, 31, from Brooklyn, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, facing felony charges of arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief for setting a fire Saturday at the 440 West 38th Street Firehouse, the New York Fire Department said.

Judge Abraham Clott set bail at $20,000 cash or a $30,000 bond for each defendant and they were ordered to return in court on Friday.

What is more questionable about their behavior is that neither of them worked for the Division they set fire to. Officials say that Izzo has been a member of the Fire Department of New York for 6 years and works at Engine 242 in Brooklyn, while Capece has been with the department for five years and is assigned to Engine 1 in Manhattan.

They were both caught by two surveillance cameras at a filling station while they bought a can of gasoline, paying with Firefighter Capece’s debit card. They were also seen taking a blue cigarette lighter for which they did not pay.

After that they drove away in a black utility vehicle, the filed complaint said. They were caught on another surveillance camera at a private parking at 38the Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues. The camera recorded the firefighters in front of the firehouse where Izzo got out of the car with the gasoline followed by Capece.

The complaint said: “A large fireball erupts in front of the firehouse, immediately after which the video shows both defendants running back to the black S.U.V. and leaving the scene.”

A fire department official who did not want to divulge his identity during the investigations said: “Our thinking is that it was intended more as a prank than something more serious.”

If it was meant to be just a prank, its consequences are no laughing matter – the two firefighters risk a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.