ST. LOUIS – A search-and-rescue dog with the St. Louis City Fire Department died over the weekend while searching the condemned Railway Exchange Building, according to the department. 

The department tweeted, “Rest easy Balko, we’ll take it from here.”

Balko, a 6-year-old Hanoverian hound from Germany, was a member of the department’s K-9 Search and Rescue Unit. He was with the department for 3.5 years. 

The St. Louis Firefighter Memorial Foundation posted on Facebook that Balko was searching for a possible body in the building when he fell five stories.

The department is asking that you keep a prayerful thought for Balko’s handler firefighter Michael (Brent) Sevener and his family as well as the members of Engine House #1.