Overview
- Ember, a 4-year-old explosives-detection Labrador from Orlando International Airport, moved on after Epic of Pittsburgh was eliminated in the second-round semifinal on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
- TSA opened public voting at noon EDT on Aug. 19 using Instagram Stories, X Poll and Facebook Stories, and the poll ran for 24 hours to determine which finalists advance.
- Ember earned a Final Four spot by winning the TSA southeast region in internal employee voting and is the only remaining female in the contest; her handler is Oscar Urdininea.
- Epic is a 4-year-old explosives-detection Lab who has served the Pittsburgh area for about two years and was voted out in the semifinal, following Pittsburgh’s 2025 winner Steeler.
- TSA frames the contest as both a public engagement event and a way to spotlight trained K9 teams that perform live explosives-detection work across airports, mass transit, commuter rail and maritime settings with the 2026 winner to be announced on Aug. 26.