HARRISON, Tenn. (WDEF)- The worst fear of any pet owner is their best friend being stuck inside of a house fire.
This worst case scenario happened to a Harrison family.
Highway 58 volunteer firefighter Christian Lenz recalled, “I took the dog at that point, he was completely unresponsive. Actually, he already appeared to be not breathing from a normal eye telling.”
These were harrowing moments for a little pup.
It was stuck inside of a home on Harvest Run Drive in Harrison last Tuesday when it caught on fire.
Firefighters had to use oxygen resuscitation masks designed for humans to bring the dog back to life.
Lenz said, “The dog started to wake up a little bit. We saw some twinkling in its eyes about one minute into resuscitation.”
He says the dog recovered in very little time.
Lenz said, “By the end of the call, the dog was actually starting to run on the property again, so 100% recovery.”
The story of this rescue inspired private citizen Stacy Prater to donate a pair of pet oxygen resuscitation kits.
Prater said, “I had two of these sitting around at the house. I didn’t really need them, so I was thinking about who I give them to next?”
He explained why this specific kit, consisting of three different masks raises the chances of a pet’s survival in a house fire.
Prater said, “This just fits down the dog or cat’s snout to provide oxygen, and it’s a little bit better what we would use from the human perspective from the non-rebreather breathing mask he spoke of earlier.”
Firefighters do encourage pet owners to make sure pets are part of your fire safety plan, including one key tip that likely saved this dog’s life.
Captain Patrick Kellam, who is the fire training instructor for Hamilton County, said, “If you’re not using a room, or if you’re not home, or if you’re sleeping, make sure the doors to those rooms are closed. This dog had a lot better chance of survival because he was behind a closed bedroom door. That allows the fire not to spread to that area as quickly, it cuts off oxygen supply, and redirects fire to different locations.”
Prater donated two of these kits, one for the northern and southern Highway 58 VFD stations.
