WICHITA, Kan. (NBC NEWS) - Firefighters administered oxygen to a tiny chihuahua -- one of two dogs they found unresponsive after fire swept through a mobile home.

Fire victim Verna Goff said "I never really knew how much they meant to me until I saw them lying there."

Goff says her 4-year-old grandson set a mattress on fire while playing with a cigarette lighter. Everyone else got out okay, except for the two dogs.

Goff’s sister Suzie Hyatt explains why they were still in house.

"They could've went out but they were too afraid...they went and hid instead of getting out the doggie door."

Firefighters found the two pets in a back room -- and both were having a hard-time breathing.

Forty-two of these new specialized oxygen masks (designed specifically for pets) were donated to the department earlier this year by Invisible Fence.

It's believed this is the first time firefighters have used them.

Capt. Brad Boyd of the Wichita Fire Department says saving pets may help the health of the owner as well.

"Animals aren't that much different than people so there's little treatments you can do that'll make a difference. For the owner whose ecstatic we saved both her pets, you can make a difference."

After being treated by firefighters both dogs appeared fine. It's a huge relief to their owner -- who couldn't have been happier the department had the right equipment to save her pets.

"Thank God they had them [the masks]. They're just like family. I don't know what I’d do without them," Goff said.

"Things can be replaced. Lives can’t. Whether they're animals or people."

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