Heartland Fire Search and Rescue Dog Dies After Nearly a Decade of Service

A search and rescue dog who served Heartland Fire and Rescue for nearly a decade has died, the department said Sunday.

Stella worked alongside Captain Matt Kirk since 2009.

The pair came together thanks to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation.

The foundation is a California-based non-profit aimed at connecting first responders with dedicated and furry partners to help find people during disasters.

Stella has been on several deployments, including services during Hurricane Irma and mudslides in Montecito, California.

She has also worked with Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 8. Here, she served as a search dog and operated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Heartland Fire announced her death on its Instagram page.

View this post on Instagram

It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing of Stella, Captain Matt Kirk’s Search and Rescue dog. Captain Kirk has had Stella since 2009, she came to him from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, which trains K9’s to find people during disasters. She has been part of our Heartland fire family and part of USA&R Task Force 8 as a FEMA type 1 canine search dog. She has been on several deployments, including hurricane Irma and the recent mudslides in Montecito. She will be greatly missed and we offer our deepest condolences. We would like to thank Santee Fire Department and San Diego Fire & Rescue for their show of support during this time of need. #Heartlandfire #HFR #K9 #FEMA #USA&R @santeefire @sandiegofiredept @heartlandfirefightersoflamesa @heartlandfirefighters @chief_miller_

A post shared by Heartland Fire & Rescue (@heartlandfire) on Jan 26, 2019 at 6:29pm PST

“She will be greatly missed and we offer our deepest condolences,” the post read.

Heartland Fire also thanked the Santee Fire Department and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department in its post for their support shown during this time.