Stormy walks past firefighters clearing burned items from a house fire on Inca Parkway in Boulder on Thursday. Firefighters used a pet oxygen mask to help resuscitate the dog, the first time Boulder firefighters have used the tool.  In his 13 years with the Boulder Fire Department, firefighter Mark Evans has had the unfortunate experience of carrying several dying dogs from scorched or burning homes.
When he carried a scruffy, unconscious dog from a partially

burnt south Boulder house — which caught fire when no residents were home Thursday — he and his partner had a new tool to help save Stormy. And it was on their truck because of two industrious Boulder teens.
Evans and his partner, Lt. Donald Olguin, used a pet oxygen mask to help the dog survive, marking the first time the department has used the tool. The fire department received the masks Saturday, whenClara Grainger, 14, and Isabel Lippincott, 13, donated them with money made from crafting and selling beaded bracelets.
Evans said the mask made for a “very, very cool” rescue of a dog that “wasn’t doing very well” when they found it.
“We put the oxygen on and, after about 10 or 15 minutes, it was able stand up and act fairly normal,” he said.
Firefighters found the dog after a passerby called 911 to report a house fire at 725 Inca Parkway around 4:30 p.m. No one was home when firefighters arrived, but they heard a faint whimpering. They eventually found Stormy in an upstairs bedroom.
The fire department hasn’t determined a cause and said no one was injured at the house, owned by Charles N. Hoffman, according to Boulder County records. The dog’s owners didn’t want to be interviewed.
Clara and Isabel brought the masks to each station Saturday after they raised enough money for the life-saving tools, which cost about $100 each. They began their bead project last year after Boulder Fire Chief Larry Donner said the department likely wouldn’t have enough money to buy the masks.
Lafayette, Louisville and Superior bought masks last April.
The teens sold the bracelets — ranging from $1.50 to $10 — outside grocery stores and to friends and family members.
“We hoped they were going to be able to save animals — we just didn’t know it would be this soon,” said Clara, an eighth-grader at Boulder’s Southern Hills Middle School. “We were just glad we brought them this weekend, and not next weekend.”
Stormy the dog seemed fine Thursday afternoon as she watched firefighters go through her house, where the fire seemed mostly contained to the basement.
Isabel was elated to hear that the dog she and her friend helped save was not only alive but alert and mobile.
“It’s very exciting. We were at a loss for words when we found out,” the Horizons K-8 charter school seventh-grader said. “It’s so exciting to know we helped save an animal’s life.”