Pets and Fire safety Thread

[Alysser]

I was just thinking about the fire in New York, where 8 children were killed, and I never realized how much importance this subject really has. I think it would be a great idea if we had a thread about this sort of thing, involving pets, as we are a pet forum. I was going to post this in Dog general but I think EVERYONE should know what to do in case of a fire, when you have pets in the house. All pets are involved in this thread, and it can even be about human safety too.

But I'm just really concerned now, and I really have no knowledge of what to do if there was a fire in my house, and my bird, fish, and dog were inside.

Any tips??

I really hope this thread is helpful to all people, and not only me.

[Freedom]

Well, cats and dogs are likely to run INTO the house. Even though it is on fire. Just as horses run into a barn. They go to their "safe" place.

I try to keep carriers handy, not in the cellar, but up here. (My house is a ranch, all one floor.) But as my pet family has grown, I have worried about this as well.

I read somewhere of a woman who grabber her cats, into a pillow case, ran out the house and put the case in the car so they could get out of the case but be confined and safe. And then there were lots of folks who thought tossing multiple scared cats in one pillow case was cruel. I just can't remember here I read this (maybe it was here on PT somewhere!)

The thing is, after you get them OUT of the house, you have to confine them somewhere or they will just run back in!

I have a label on my front doors advising how many cats and dogs are in here. So if something happens while no one is home, the emergency workers know who / what to look for. You can get the labels in many places and on line. The ones I have are stickies. But they now have window cling types as well. The fire engines in my city all carry oxygen masks for pets as well, but I don't know that it is everywhere which does this. And they put human life first, then pets.

Now my fish, I don't concern myself and don't have them listed. I don't have expensive fish, 15 or so black neon tetras and pristella tetras. I can't imagine what I could do, can't hold them in my hand.

I'd like to hear ideas from others as well!

[BC_MoM]

I'm such a worry wart - but I hate leaving my dogs home alone. We do have one of the ASPCA Pets Inside! stickers. I sometimes think, if there was ever a fire, and no one was home, they would be trapped. And I know my neighbours would not do as I would, and run in for them.

[RedHedd]

Pet stickers are on the windows and carriers are left open in the hallway. I actually had the unfortunate pleasure of testing my emergency plan last month and it worked. Sunday morning false alarm, but it scared the heck out of everyone as we've had a spate of small fires in the building in the past few months.

The big fire alarm went off and someone was yelling fire in the hallway. I grabbed both cats, put them in their carriers, dressed myself and exited the building - successfully navigating the stairway with two heavy carriers. I know my strength came from adrenaline as there's no way I could do that on a normal day. Of course I forgot my purse and my cell phone and am glad it was a false alarm - just someone's old toaster, burning the Sunday toast and setting off a smoke alarm!

[Freedom]

Oh, RedHedd, I am sure that WAS scary! I am glad to hear it was alright in the end. And then you had to get the cats back upstairs with the adrenaline gone, and that took two trips, huh? Ha ha. But I know what you mean, when you HAVE to do something.

I woulnd't worry so much about purse and phone, but I would like the car keys so I could get . . . somewhere, if it were a true emergency.

[RedHedd]

What was really irritating is that there were all these men from the building watching me struggling to get two cat carriers UP the stairs and no one offered to help!

[Jadapit]

I'm such a worry wart - but I hate leaving my dogs home alone. We do have one of the ASPCA Pets Inside! stickers. I sometimes think, if there was ever a fire, and no one was home, they would be trapped. And I know my neighbours would not do as I would, and run in for them.

I totally understand what you mean! I also hate leaving my dogs alone when we go somewhere. Ebony is put in her crate when we leave. She wouldn't make it if there were a fire. It scares me to death. My neighbors would never try to save my dogs.

Were going to put up dog runs this summer. They would be safe outside if there ever were a fire. I still have to worry about the winter though, they would be inside.

[lvpets2002]

Grrrr yes that would have made me mad too.. Now I have Pet Fire Stickers on all doors front & back.. Plus my neighbors all know of my cats indoors & where the carriers are..

What was really irritating is that there were all these men from the building watching me struggling to get two cat carriers UP the stairs and no one offered to help!

[Denyce]

A neighbor whose home is in spitting distance of ours caught fire a couple of weeks ago. My mom called me at work to tell me it was on fire. It was all I could do to fight the panic and not run screaming from my work to race home and protect my cats. Sequoia is outside in her kennel when we are at work so unless it is a forest fire she is probably ok. But the cats.....*sigh*

By the time mom called the fire department had the fire under control so I didn't need to go home but I still was just shaking the rest of the day. Unfortunately our neighbor lost her cat Peaches in the fire. She went to her safe place in the laundry room but the smoke got her. Peaches's mom wasn't home when the fire started so she wasn't there to save her. She was a beautiful long haired white cat with a calico tail and head. When the firefighters were able to find her she was just black from the soot and smoke. And the fire was contained to the kitchen. The rest of the home just had smoke and water damage. I spent the day at work just shaking and crying. Poor Peaches and her mom Jane.

We have a sticker and the carriers...I have no idea what else to do.