St. Louis Fire Department K-9 dies during search mission

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - The St. Louis Fire Department lost a member of its K-9 Search and Rescue Unit Friday, March 3.

K-9 Balko died Friday night while performing a search at the Railway Exchange Building. Captain Garon Mosby with the St. Louis Fire Department said Balko’s death was accidental; as he fell from a fifth-story window during an assisted search with SLMPD. The fire department made the announcement in a post on Twitter around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Mosby says Balko was the department’s lone HRD (human remains detection) or cadaver K-9.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the line of duty death of Balko, a member of @STLFireDept’s K-9 Search & Rescue Unit. Balko tragically died last night while performing a search at the Railway Exchange Building.

Rest easy Balko, we’ll take it from here. #LODD #STL pic.twitter.com/NKamOxNvMc
— St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) March 4, 2023

Balko was 6-years-old. He is credited with nine finds, including at the fatal fire at Bob Kramer’s Marionettes Inc.

Memorial arrangements for Balko are to be announced.

Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved.