Detecting heat
Saving lives will be just a little bit easier for the Logan City Fire Department. The department recently acquired two thermal-imaging cameras, each valued at $20,000.
Rhett Hellstern, president of the Local 2148 of the Professional Firefighters Union told the Logan City Council Wednesday the cameras have nothing to do with light. The cameras detect the heat signature of a body or fire and display to firefighters the image of the heat’s origin on a four-inch LCD screen, Hellstern said.
Hellstern demonstrated how firefighters normally check a smoke-filled room for bodies. Before entering, the firefighter checks the door of the room for heat. Since smoke is opaque, the firefighter enters, crouching low, maintaining contact with one hand on the wall as he crawls while making sweeping motions with the other hand or leg. After checking the room, the firefighter may then proceed to another room.
“This [camera] cuts time by more than half,” Hellstern said.
Firefighters may simply peer into the room with the camera to determine whether there is a heat source in the room or not.
“It is really putting eyes back on a firefighter,” Hellstern said.
Douglas Fullmer – a six-year veteran firefighter who spearheaded the effort to get the cameras – said the cameras’ sensors are made by Lockheed Martin, which are then used by Bullard, a manufacturer from Kentucky to make the cameras. The fire department purchased the cameras from L.N. Curtis and Sons, a distributor.
“We raised $22,000 in donations from local businesses and citizens,” Fullmer said. “One anonymous person donated $10,000. The second camera was given to us by a family foundation from Utah.”
Fullmer said the cameras do more than save lives. Since firefighters often need to eliminate fire from inside a wall, using the camera they can tell where a fire is located inside the wall, allowing firefighters to break open only pertinent walls, reducing damage to people’s homes.
One year ago, a Logan resident, Isabel Katana, wondered if the fire department had thermal imaging cameras after seeing a television program demonstrating their use, Hellstern said. She started raising money with a group of other citizens. Fullmer then spearheaded the fundraising in March.
The anonymous donor promised to match the firefighters’ fundraising dollar for dollar, Fullmer said.
Fire chief Jeff Peterson is also happy to have the cameras but doesn’t have any plans to acquire more.
“These cameras will meet our needs for right now,” Peterson said.