Pets are an important part of any family. Should a house fire or other disaster happen, East Pierce Fire & Rescue is now even more prepared to rescue furry members of the family.
Firefighters now have access to specially designed oxygen masks that could help save pets suffering smoke inhalation after being rescued from a fire.
Invisible Fence of Seattle, an electronic pet containment company, has donated more than 12,400 pet masks to fire departments. The company donated six mask kits to East Pierce Fire & Rescue as part of its Project Breathe program, with the goal of equipping every fire department in America and Canada with pet oxygen masks.
The masks are specially designed to fit over the animal’s snout to provide a steady flow of oxygen to the animal, said Bud Backer, East Pierce Fire & Rescue chief.
“There’s three different sizes of masks in each kit,” he said. “They gave us six different kits to put on six engines through out the district.”
Firefighters have started training with the masks, which are similar to the human oxygen masks.