Animals are no less vulnerable to home fires than their owners. Approximately half a million pets are affected by house fires each year, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation reported in February. That’s why the Mesa Fire and Medical Department has to be just as prepared to treat them as they are for any humans affected by fires. After an animal has been exposed to a fire, the primary medical treatment for recovery is the delivery of a high concentrations of oxygen to replace the toxic gases inside the blood, Deputy Chief Forrest Smith of the Mesa Fire and Medical Department said. “When it comes to a fire, what you deal with mostly is smoke inhalation,” Smith said. “And we do know that living animals require certain things that we do.”