Thermal Imaging Aids MFD

by Mickey Smith - News and Citizen

MORRISTOWN ? The Morrisville Fire Department added a new piece of equipment to their firefighting arsenal this winter, a thermal imaging unit which gives firefighters a set of “eyes,” even inside a smoke filled building.

The Cairns Viper, costing just shy of $20,000, is a hand-held unit that looks a lot like a futuristic pair of binoculars.  In fact, its capabilities may make you think it is something out of a science fiction movie.  A thermal imaging device shows varying levels of heat. The hotter an object, the lighter it appears in the viewfinder. The devices can be so sensitive footprints will show up from the body heat left and friction caused by a moving foot.

The imaging device’s uses are limitless. Firefighters can use it to navigate a smoke filled building. They can use it to check rooms for missing people, and, where they use to have to cut a hole in a wall, it can be used to detect “hot spots” where fire has yet to appear on the surface.

Over the weekend of March 31 and April 1, members of the Morrisville Fire Department received a two day course in using the camera. Eight firefighters spent five hours on Saturday in the fire department’s classroom and then spent Sunday receiving hands-on training in a smoke filled environment.  Saturday, representatives from other area departments were invited to come get a look at the technology available.  Morrisville plans to assist other departments with the camera, through Mutual Aid.

When they purchased the imager, Cairns directed MFD to a company called Safe-IR for training on use of the camera.

Doug Hantusch, a firefighter from Rescue Company #3 in the Bronx, came up to teach the local course. During his 19 years as a firefighter, Hantusch also has experience with a volunteer company in Montgomery, NY.  After the day in the classroom, the firefighters took the imager to a home at the end of Wabun Avenue which will be used in a controlled burn

practice in May. Smoke and heat barrels were set up inside the house, and the firefighters took turns in groups of two, going into the structure.

Using the directed search system, one firefighter looks through the device and directs a second firefighter as to where to go.  The firefighters practiced crawling around with the camera and handing tools back and forth. During the afternoon, firefighters worked on finding a “fallen” colleague inside the building.

The money to purchase the device was raised through the fundraising efforts of the fire department. Private and business donations were sought for the purchase. Fundraising efforts are continuing for a monitor device which will allow someone outside of the building to monitor what the device is seeing. That image could then be recorded for training purposes.

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