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Fire crews at the scene of the Jay Street fire in Schenectady had rare reason to celebrate this morning after they found a dog alive and well on the fourth floor of one of the charred buildings, eight days after the massive fire.

According to fire officials, the dog, Zeus, was located by firefighters in 100-102 Jay St. and coaxed out a window and into the arms of firefighters on a ladder truck.

“We were able to get up there and lure him out with a little bit of pizza, of all things,” said Schenectady Fire Chief Ray Senecal.

The dog, visibly happy and seemingly healthy, was reunited with its owner, Staci Lydon, just minutes later. Officials were able to locate Lydon through a Facebook page dedicated to finding pets lost in the fire.

“I never gave up hope,” said Lydon. “I really didn’t. Without any signs of a body, I would never have stopped looking for him.”

Lydon said Zeus, a 6- or 7-year-old pitbull mix, was a rescue dog, found tied to a garage. She was not a resident of the building, but said Zeus was staying with a co-worker on a “trial run” before possible adoption when the fire broke out.

“It’s incredible,” she said Saturday morning, wiping away tears as Zeus ran circles around her.

The fire broke out in the early morning hours of March 6 at 104 Jay St. and spread to 100-102 Jay St., claiming at least two lives and leaving 60 people homeless and seven hospitalized. It is unknown how many are still unaccounted for.

A cause has not yet been determined.

Fire crews and investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continued to dismantle the buildings piece by piece today. Officials say there could still be more fire victims inside.

“Crews are progressing, continuing to try to remove debris and attempt to locate, if any, remains still left inside 104 Jay St.,” said Schenectady police Sgt. Matthew Dearing.

Dearing said the recovery efforts and investigation have so far focused mostly on 104 Jay St., where the fire is believed to have started

“The crews have been working inside 104 Jay St. for the majority of the week, and I don’t know what led them to go into 100 at that point in time, but they did, and that dog was located alive,” he said.

With a fire that has only gotten worse as the investigation uncovers more victims, fire crews welcomed the reason to smile this morning.

“The nature of this business, what we’re dealing with here on a daily basis, it’s good to have a little good news,” said Senecal.