Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 4:15 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
September 11 - 12, 2004
In his 33 years of fire service, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski has witnessed firsthand the potentially fatal dangers a house fire can pose on a family's pet.
So when it comes to the safety of his family's six dogs, he doesn't take any chances.
"I probably take more precautions than most people because of my job, but these are just things that make me feel better," said Szymanski, who has three Chihuahuas, two dachshunds and, appropriately, a Dalmatian. "The thing is, most people, like myself, consider pets a part of their family. So I think people should have a plan to get pets out safely, just as they would any other family member."
Because every house and apartment fire is different, there is no guaranteed plan to save a pet, he said. But there are precautions pet owners can take to increase the chance of their pets' survival in an emergency.
The first thing pet owners should do is identify their pets' hiding places throughout a residence, Szymanski said.
"Something that I've learned is that in a fire, pets go into their own defensive mode," he said. "They are confused and very scared during a fire and a lot of times a cat will scratch at you and dogs, well, they'll usually run away and hide somewhere like under a bed or behind a chair."
Knowing where pets like to hide will save owners from having to search a smoke-filled house or apartment for their furry friends, he said.
"If you check those spots and your pets are not there, go ahead and get yourself and your family out of the house," Szymanski said. "If the door was open or there was a way out of the house, chances are your pet got out of there on their own."
If a pet happens to get themselves out of the house or apartment, it is important that they have identification tags or microchips, he said.
"When dogs get out of the house, they will run away and hide somewhere around the neighborhood," he said. "They won't come back around the house if the fire engines are still there, so it's important that they have ID on them somehow so they can be reunited with their owners."
To increase a pet's chance of getting out of the house, Szymanski recommends that home owners install pet doors to allow their pets easy access to the outdoors.
"I probably have a lot more pet doors than most people do," Szymanski said. "All of the doors in our house have pet doors. We've got doggie doors installed in all the bedroom doors and all the exits that go outside. That way they can get out of a room or out of the house at any time."
Szymanski explained that he installed the doggie doors throughout the entire house because he keeps rooms closed off during the night.
"By keeping doors closed, it cuts down the risk on the fire spreading," he said. "But at the same time you're keeping the fire out, you may also be keeping your pet from escaping. So this way, I can keep the doors shut but feel better knowing they have a way out of the room."
Szymanski also recommends that pet owners keep an "emergency pet box."
Pet owners who live in an upper-story apartment or have a two-story house can take the extra measure of tying a rope to the crate to lower pets down from a window, he said.
Perhaps one of the most important safety precautions pet owners can take, is keeping smoke detectors up to par, Szymanski said.
"The quicker an alarm goes off, the sooner you can be warned and have more time to get yourself and your pets out before a house fills up with smoke," he said.
If, however, a house is filled with smoke, Szymanski encourages pet owners to get themselves and their human family members out and leave rescuing a pet to firefighters.
"If it's a matter between your life and your animals, you of course need to get yourself and anyone else out," he said.
Firefighters generally don't look for stickers that can go on doors or windows to alert them that pets are inside, Szymanski said.
Informing a firefighter where an animal may be hiding inside a residence is the best thing a pet owner can do, he said.
Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach agreed.
"Firefighters really don't rely on those stickers," Leinbach said. "Most fires happen at night time, when it's dark and there's a lot of smoke, so we can't usually see them even if they're there.
"Someone just coming straight to a firefighter and saying 'Hey, I've got a pet hiding under the bed upstairs' is a lot more important than putting a sticker on a window."
Leinbach added that pet owners should never run back into a house looking for a pet that was left behind.
"The pet probably got out of the house by themselves, and then you're just putting yourself in danger by going back in," he said.
Because fire engines are now equipped with new animal oxygen masks, firefighters have a better chance of resuscitating animals who suffer smoke inhalation, Szymanski added.
"We all understand how important pets are to people," Szymanski said. "So I really do encourage that people take extra safety steps if they're really serious about taking care of their animals."
archive
