Firefighters save dog from house fire using pet friendly oxygen masks

Firefighters from Braintree and Halstead rescued a dog from a kitchen fire in Braintree this evening. 

Crews were called to a kitchen fire in Stanstrete Field, Braintree at 6.36pm after neighbours called us when they heard smoke alarms going off.

On arrival, crews could see the fire and smoke through the kitchen window. They entered the property quickly and found Waffle, a cockapoo trapped in the house. 

Crews rescued Waffle and used the SmokeyPaws pet oxygen masks as it was suffering with smoke inhalation. 

Watch Manager Matthew Nash said: “We’d like to thank the neighbours who heard the smoke alarm sounding and rang us immediately. This allowed our crews to get there quickly, extinguish the fire and rescue Waffle.

“Once we got Waffle outside we could see it was subdued and suffering the effects of smoke inhalation. We quickly applied the specialist pet oxygen masks that we carry on our fire engines to give Waffle oxygen. After a few minutes you could tell there was a significant improvement.” 

“The fire started when the hob was accidentally switched on and caused items on top of it to set alight. We can’t say it enough, please do not leave items on top of your hob. We attend so many incidents where people have used the hob as a storage area and items have set alight, it’s just not worth the risk.”