aoconnell@thestamfordtimes.com

STAMFORD — Several years ago, firefighter Dave Davis was working at a house fire in Stamford when one of this colleagues brought him a cat he'd found underneath a bed. It was barely identifiable as a cat; it was completely covered in soot and seemed lifeless. Davis did the best he could; he put the cat's face close to an oxygen mask — made for humans — and hoped for the best. The cat was lucky, it survived; but many animals are lost to residential fires and smoke inhalation; two birds and a goldfish died in that fire, according to Davis. At a recent housefire on Williams Street, two dogs were saved by human oxygen masks, but three others were lost to smoke.

"We lose more than we save," said Capt. William Avalos of Stamford Fire & Rescue. Avalos made the comment anecdotally; the Stamford fire department doesn't keep records pertaining to pet deaths.

The Wilton-based Canine Fence Company recently donated 12 animal-sized oxygen masks to the Stamford fire department. The masks are designed to fit a muzzle, and will get more oxygen to a dog or cat than a human mask will.

"(A human oxygen mask) is not secured around their snout area," said Davis. "(The dog oxygen mask) gives more of a concentrated dose of oxygen. I wish we had it at the Williams Street fire."

The Canine Fence Company began its mask donation program in March. Since then, the company has donated more than 140 oxygen masks to fire departments in six states, said Tracy Scarfi, spokeswoman for The Canine Fence Company.

Scarfi said that the oxygen mask donation program falls in line with the company's mission: keeping pets safe.

"Our hope is to get as many kits as possible to fire departments in need in our region," she said.

The Canine Fence Company estimates that 40,000 pets died in fires in 2006, but like the Stamford fire department, neither the U.S. Fire Administration (which lists 2,620 human deaths in 2006) nor the National Fire Protection Association (which records 2,705 human deaths for the same year) lists statistics relating to pet fatalities.

Wilton fire chief Paul Milositz, whose department received seven pet masks, says his department has rarely had to give oxygen to a pet animal. Often his firefighters have to pull a pet from a burning building, and sometimes the pets get out by themselves, he said.

"That's one of our questions (at a fire)," he said, "are there any pets in there."

According to Avalos, cats and dogs tend to become victims of fires more often than their human owners. While humans know to get out of a burning house, a pet will often stay where it is.

"Dogs' and cats' instinct is to hide," said Davis. He said that cats especially will try to hide, and will make themselves as small as possible.

"They're hard to find," he said, "especially in the primary search."

The primary search is intended to get humans out of a structure fire.

Stamford uses a thermal imaging camera, which shows firefighters heat rather than light to conduct searches for humans, animals and hidden fires in a smoke-filled house. That camera often helps firefighters to pull animals out of fires during the secondary search.

Milositz pointed out that firefighters have very strict priorities at a fire. The first, he said, is human life. If a cat or dog is hiding in a fire and will not come to its owners, those owners need to get out of the fire regardless.

Avalos agrees.

"If the pet is inside the house, tell the fire department he's in there. We're going to do everything we can to save your pet," said Avalos. "We're trained. If you go in, you'll be overcome by smoke."