The East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department purchased two thermal imaging cameras to help locate people and personal property better in case of a fire.
Greg Ball, chief of the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department, said the thermal camera will be beneficial to students, because it will be used to protect student apartments in which the EOVFD provide service, including Chadwick Place Apartments, 21 Apartments, The Pointe and Campus Trails, Ball said.
“This will be a great addition to our capabilities of protecting and serving our community,” Ball said.
Austin Check, grant administrator of the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department, said the thermal cameras will allow firefighters to see while fighting a fire.
“In a fire, you cannot see anything,” he said. “It’s dark. You can’t see your hand in front of your face most of the time. What (the cameras) allow us to do is … use a flashlight to where we can see.”
Check said the camera helps the EOVFD achieve its main goal, which is to find victims quickly in a fire.
“Our goal is not to look for you. Our goal is to find you,” he said. “(The camera) cuts that time drastically.”
Check said the thermal camera will allow firefighters to navigate through apartment fires in a more time-efficient manner.
“Think about the time it takes for us to go from unit to unit (and) from apartment to apartment doing it the old-fashioned way where we get on our knees and crawl (because) we can’t see,” he said. “Imagine closing your eyes and feeling your way through. You’re a blind man in that room. Now (we’ve) got a flashlight.”
With the help of the thermal imaging camera, the EOVFD can cover more ground in a smaller amount of time, Check said.
Ball said the thermal camera will not act as a replacement tool. Firefighters will still need to utilize their skills and training while operating the camera.
Check said the brain is the best thing that can be used in a fire, not a piece of equipment.
Another way in which the thermal camera really helps is in reducing the damage to personal property during a fire. Instead of knocking down an entire wall to find the source of the fire, firefighters can use the thermal camera to locate the hotspot and remove only the area of the wall affected.
“Most of your damage in a fire isn’t the fire itself,” Check said. “It’s the damage of putting the fire out, (such as) spraying water in a house (or) tearing down a wall. It’s less property damage to not have to spray water all over (tenants’) televisions.”
Bobby Kyle, national sales manager for ISG Infrasys, said the thermal camera allows firefighters to see floors, walls and ceilings before entering a room. It also allows firefighters to see inside closets, piles of clothes and places where children may hide. The thermal camera has the ability to detect up to 2,000 degrees of heat.
Kyle said when near a heat source, it uses intelligent focus to switch between high and low sense modes, which allows the camera to sense maximum levels of heat and maximum levels of cold. Environmental conditions limit the camera as it cannot see through walls, water, plants, clouds and glass. The thermal camera can also be used to locate people who are hiding in the woods, which may include small children who ran away from home.
Check said the EOVFD bought two thermal cameras for roughly $9,000  within the last 30 days. The cameras have been used several times and were purchased with federal funds and community donations.
“This is a great investment,” he said. “It’s going to work well for the community.”