SPRINGDALE — All Washington County fire trucks are now equipped with oxygen masks specifically designed for dogs and cats.
Springdale and Fayetteville received theirs in May, and the Humane Society of the Ozarks completed the donation by distributing them Tuesday evening to the county’s 19 volunteer fire departments.
Each kit contains three masks, one for cats and two for different sizes of dogs. In the past, firefighters used masks designed for humans on animals. The results were mixed, said Springdale Fire Chief Duane Atha.
He said the new masks will be put to good use.
“You don’t know what kind of victims you’ll encounter at a fire,” Atha said. “A lot of people have pets.”
Atha said he was pleasantly surprised his department received the gift.
“I didn’t know they existed until now,” he said.
The National Fire Protection Association does not keep statistics on the number of pets killed each year in structure fires. Local departments do not report pet deaths to national sources, according to the association.
The association, however, does report that animals are believed to be responsible for about 900 home fires per year.
The Humane Society partnered with the Invisible Fence Co. to obtain and distribute the masks.
Invisible Fence, a Tennessee-based company that installs electronic pet containment systems, is distributing the masks as part of a promotional campaign. But Invisible Fence also wants to provide protection for pets, said Rick Carthel, owner of Invisible Fence Arkansas.
“Obviously we’d like to have our name out there, but we want to do something nice for people,” he said. “It’s fun to give back. It’s the right thing to do.”
The masks are manufactured by Smiths Medical of Wisconsin.
Invisible Fence gave 20 masks to the Hot Springs Fire Department in December 2008. So far, the department has not had to use them, said Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis.
There are plans to distribute pet masks in Benton County sometime next year.
In Fayetteville, Fire Chief David Dayringer said the masks are appreciated.
“Pets are part of the family,” he said. “Just getting them out of the smoky area is not enough. We need to put them in an oxygen environment.”
Like other departments, Fayetteville has saved pets in the past with equipment made for humans.
“We did the best we could with those masks,” Dayringer said.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/28/2010