Thermal imaging cameras used in the firefighting service aren’t just for detecting fires – they’re also products that can save lives.
Many firefighters are now armed with thermal imaging equipment to help them detect thermal hotspots, see through smoke and identify the body signatures of people who might be trapped. They’re an extremely important precautionary measure for all firefighters, allowing them to locate fires ahead of time and plan their actions accordingly. When used upon entering a building, the thermal camera allows a firefighter to instantly see where they might be hotspots in a building. This helps them to identify exactly where a fire might be situated, allowing them to move through the environment safely and deal with the fire.
A recent case reported in the news shows that not using the technology can have fatal effects. Jim Shears and Alan Bannon, two firefighters from Southampton, recently lost their lives because a thermal camera a colleague had was not used to detect a fire that quickly escalated and trapped the two in a flat in Southampton’s Shirley Towers.
Thermal cameras also have a number of additional benefits, including allowing firefighters to see through darkness when power might be down. There are also several thermal imaging cameras that can be mounted to a firefighter’s helmet for comprehensive thermal imaging of an environment.
A report by Ronald S. Conti, Linda L. Chasko, and John D Cool says:
“Fire fighting and similar emergency response activities often impair vision due to dense smoke or darkness. Vision enhancement in such circumstances is a profound benefit for completing the assigned task. Infrared (IR) thermal imaging enhances the users’ vision when visible light is inadequate. Thermal imaging both restores vision and provides significant additional information to the user not otherwise possible to obtain. The technology increases the responder’s understanding of the environment, thus enhancing safety and the ability to accomplish the task. The first documented civilian life saved with thermal imaging technology was during a 1988 fire that occurred in New York City."
