Donated oxygen masks help to save dogs from kennel fire
Rocky Mountain News
Published January 2, 2007 at midnight
Two dogs survived a fire at a Wheat Ridge kennel Monday because the kennel's owner had donated oxygen masks for pets to the fire department, officials said.
Neighbors reported a fire at Best Friends Pet Kennel about 8 a.m., and crews arrived within six minutes to save 22 of 25 dogs at the facility, said Scott Pribble of the Arvada Fire Protection District.
Firefighters moved 10 dogs to another kennel on the property and sent 10 more to the Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital for observation, he said.
Three dogs died, but two more were resuscitated by fire crews, Pribble said.
"The kennel gave us the masks several years ago, and we had them on our fire engines," Pribble said. "We run into pets with smoke inhalation quite a bit."
The two dogs saved by firefighters using the oxygen masks were taken to Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in critical condition, Pribble said.
The fire started near the water heater in the one-story brick building's work room, Pribble said. The blaze was ruled to be accidental, he said.
The fire destroyed the water heater and damaged machinery, equipment, a washer and dryer, and other material stored in the work room, Pribble said.
"People saw the fire pretty quickly," he said. "It hadn't been going for very long."
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