Earlier this year, Maricopa resident Kritina Hilliard was moved by photos she saw in a local news story.  The photos showed a Maricopa Firefighter holding a puppy that had been rescued from a burning home and was suffering from smoke inhalation.  A Southwest Ambulance crew was working to revive the puppy using an oxygen tube as there were no masks available that would fit around the canine's snout.  Kritina contacted Casa Grande-based Pinal Paws,  a group of friends dedicated to giving back to the community and the community’s pets, looking for a solution.

"Firefighters have long understood the importance of pets to a family, and have done what they can to make human lifesaving tools fit animal bodies," said Maricopa Fire's Brad Pitassi.  "Sometimes it works; too often it doesn’t."

On Tuesday night, the Maricopa Fire Department was honored to receive a generous donation of oxygen masks specially designed for animals.  Pinal Paws made the donation of four sets of masks with multiple sizes to fit most pets.  A set will go on each of the fire department’s apparatus and will be used to help resuscitate or aid a pet in an emergency.  Along with the masks, Pinal Paws is offering firefighter training in dog and cat CPR and first aid.

“We are very thankful to the Pinal Paws group for donating to us these masks,” stated Battalion Chief Jim Wise, who oversees the Emergency Medical Service branch of the Maricopa Fire Department. “By having the right tools for the job, it enables us to provide the best medical care to all members of a family during an incident and, in turn, provide a better service to our community.”

On hand for the donation were representatives from Pinal Paws, Home Is Where The Hound Is (a local pet-sitting and animal advocacy business), and Maricopa City Councilmember Carl Diedrich.

“I am honored to live in such a progressive community that values pets lives as well as human. It’s comforting to know our first responders have the proper tools to care for our pets in case of an emergency,” said Home Is Hound Is owner Kimberly Diedrich, who was initially contacted by the fire department to help when the puppy that Kritina saw was first rescued.

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There was a live demonstration at the event where the firefighters were able to try out the mask for themselves.

“This is an important addition to the tools we have as first responders to help our community during an emergency,” stated Acting Maricopa Fire Chief Wade Brannon, “Pets are family members and we look forward to being able to do what we can to help them too.”

For more information on the masks, and to see a video of the mask used to resuscitate a dog at a Florida fire scene, visit: www.helpanimalsinc.org.  For more information about Pinal Paws, contact: Kritina Hilliard at pinalpaws@yahoo.com.

Sam McCallie of maricopa360.com and Brad Pitassi-MFD PIO contributed to this story

Photos by Howard WaGGner

Photo1: A Maricopa firefighter rescues a puppy from a burning residence this past April. This one survived, several others did not.

Photo2: Maricopa Firefighters Andrew Boland (L) and Chuck Matthews (R.) get some hands on experience from Kritina Hilliard in the use of the masks during the presentation at Maricopa’s station 571.

Photo3: The rescued puppy was treated for smoke inhalation with an oxygen tube. There were no masks available that could help at the time.

Photo4: On hand for the donation were representatives from Pinal Paws, Home Is Where The Hound Is (right of sign in white), and Maricopa City Councilmember Carl Diedrich (3^rd from right).