Cats Saved From Burning Home With Oxygen Masks: Middletown EMS

BELFORD, NJ — EMTs with the Middletown EMS department recounted to Patch what it was like saving the lives of two cats last Thursday, which firefighters pulled from a burning building in the Belford section and were brought back to life using specially-designed pet oxygen masks.

The fire broke out at 743 Main Street in Belford at 12:37 p.m. Thursday, May 17. Matthew McCrady, the captain of Belford Engine Fire Company, actually saw the smoke from a distance and ran over. The fire appeared to have started in the second-floor apartment kitchen, with heavy black smoke billowing from the windows.

That building has a repair shop on the ground floor, and an apartment on the second. No people were in the building, but three cats were trapped in the apartment.

"Firefighters pulled the first two out and they were really limp and just lifeless in their arms as they were brought out of the building," said Joe Grabas, chief operating officer of Middletown EMS, who was on the scene. "The cats had inhaled a lot of smoke and you could see smoke and soot around their eyes, mouth and nose."

Because the cats had inhaled so much smoke, they had also produced a lot of mucus. They were panting and clearly struggling to breathe, Grabas said. They were so lifeless that he knew the end was near.

"They just lay in our arms, not moving and really lifeless. (EMTs) Ralph Noriega and George Breslin luckily had those pet oxygen masks donated to the Middletown fire department, so they fitted them right over the animals' noses. It's just pure oxygen that comes out," Grabas said. "It comes out of a cylinder with a regulator, and all they had to do was hold it in place."

As Patch reported in March, the Middletown Township Fire Department received a donation of 11 sets of specially-designed pet oxygen mask kits from the Canine Company. Grabas said that in the past, he's seen firefighters and EMTs use human oxygen masks on dogs and cats, but — "Their whole head can fit into the mask. A lot of the oxygen is just wasted and goes into the air."

It took about 15 to 20 minutes, but then the cats began squirming again — a truly welcome sign they had been revived. One tried to get away and ran into a bush. The second scratched EMT Noriega.

"We were really happy to see that," said Grabas.

Sadly, a third cat was not so fortunate. Firefighters found the animal in the burning building, but it was already dead. It had inhaled too much smoke.

Grabas said in his ten years working as an EMT, seeing cats or dogs die in fires is "not uncommon." And it's always from smoke inhalation, he said.

"The first priority of anyone in a fire is to get the humans and kids out, then you think about pets," he said. "I would say we see a pet die about once a year or so. Their metabolisms are much faster than ours so once they inhale the smoke, the poisonous gases get into their bloodstreams much faster."

That's why pet-oxygen masks are such a game-changer, he said. The masks given to Middletown are specifically designed for the shape of an animal's snout. Each set includes masks in three sizes to fit a wide range of pets – from small mammals like rabbits to large-breed dogs.

The two surviving cats were taken to a local vet to be checked and then reunited with their owner.

Past Patch reporting: One Pet Dies, 2 Others Saved In Middletown Fire