Fire safety for your pets...???

[doxielady5569128]

Okay, I just heard a story on the news that got me thinking.   A local farmhouse caught on fire.  The home was owned by an elderly couple who had been working at the tiem the fire started.   Their small dog Pippy was left home alone, crated in the back room.   Luckilly, their neighbors spotted the fire very early and called the firefighters.   They were there within 15 minutes.   They heard the dog crying and went in after him.  They got him out safely and Pippy had no injuries or smoke inhalation.  Luckilly, the fire started in the kitchen which was very large and it burned slowly.  So...The only damage to their home (other than smoke damage) was isolated to te kitchen area.  They were talking and said all they cared about was that their little Pippy was okay.   

But...it got me to thinking.   What if that ever happened in our house?  What would our Porky Pie do?  He would be in his crate so would have no way to escape himself.   What kind of safety precautions if any, have you taken to make sure your dog hopefully gets out safely in a fire?  This is honestly one of my worst nightmares.   I know its ust hypothetical and the likelyhood of it ever happening is minimal, but it really got me trying to come up with a plan.   Besides asking the neighbors who we can trust, to watch our house while I'm at work. And putting up stickers on the window indicating that we have a pet, i couldn't think of anything else to do.   I know our fire department takes file cards with your names, ages, addresses, and your pets information, name breed, weight, etc... that way they can call your pet by name hoping they will come when called.  Maybe I should write on the card that Porky is kept in a crate and the location of the crate?    Our landlord has also provided them with the general layout of each unit so they don't get lost in the black smoke, if there ever were a fire.   

Any good ideas here?  I know I'm kinda being paranoid about it, but its better to be prepared right?   I just wanted to generate ideas between us all of steps or precautions we could take. 

[Frankys_mom]

You hit onto one of my worst fears, too.  We have a cling on our front storm door (one of those please resue out pets signs) and we try not to leave them alone when possible.  Fortunately my husband's line of work allows him to stop home and he works in the township we live in, so if something would happen, he would know as quickly as anyone.  Also I am obsessive about eliminating possible hazards, such as never leaving the dryer running when we are not home and furnace maintenance.  My iron, coffee pot, and curling iron all have automatic shut-off in case I would forget to turn them off, but I have already turned around on my way to work to double check such things.

Dawn

[doxielady5569128]

I'm the same way.  I even go so far as to unplug the tv, computer and anything else that might spark a fire.  A little nutty I know, but hey...I want my baby safe.  Also its kind of a pain to reset the clock on the vcr and tv everytime I unplug it, but small price to pay for peace of mind.