How Tulsa Firefighters Train To Save Animals From Fires

Tulsa Fire crews tell us a life is a life whether it's a person or their pet. Firefighters said saving an animal from a house fire is more common than one might think.

So far this year, Tulsa fire crews report that they have responded to an average of one structure fire per day and many of the affected homeowners have pets.

"Oftentimes pets, like small children will hide," said Andy Little, TFD.

"Most of the time our fire guys have to carry these animals out of the houses to get them out," said Danielle Weavel, Oklahoma Task Force 1.

Firefighters look for a pulse and said even if the animal's breathing, there's a good chance it inhaled smoke.

"Each fire company has an assignment at a house fire and so if they find or rescue a person or a pet, they'll assign someone to EMS. So a fire crew will essentially redirect from whatever they were doing and focus on that life because life is the highest priority for us whether that be a human or a pet," said Little.

Each District Chief carries three sizes of oxygen masks inside their car. Fire crews are taught how many liters of oxygen each animal requires.

"They're very docile. You know, they're lethargic. They just don't feel well and it's obvious by looking at them and they'll lay there and allow you to put that on them," said Little.

"The more they recover the more anxious they're gonna be ready to pull that off. So it might take a couple people to really pet the dog and let them know that 'it's okay, we're trying to help you' and just keeping them calm," said Weavel.

Danielle Weavel with Oklahoma Task Force 1 said anyone can perform CPR on their animal.

"We open up the airway, we pull their tongue out of the way cause most of the time their tongue is the biggest obstruction in their mouth," said Weavel.

She said you pull the animal's tongue up and out of its mouth, before closing its snout, pushing on its tongue, and breathing through its nostrils. When doing compressions, Weavel said to have the animal laying on its side.

"You come to about the highest point in their chest and that's where you would compress on a dog," said Weavel.

If the pet doesn't respond to treatment, it may need to be transported to an animal hospital.

"They're not just pets. They're family for everyone," said Weavel.