Thermal Camera Opens a Firefighter's Eyes

Maybe it doesn't seem like much a thermal imaging camera Danbury Firefighters will use to search for people or hot spots in a fire.

The already has four or five, but one was lost in a fire on New Street in 2010. Most are old and bulky. Upon hearing about the destroyed camera, theet out to raise the $10,900 for a new camera and a battery.

The original cameras cost about $25,000, and they were heavier and more awkward. That makes the $10,000 pricetag sound like a deal.

Mike Kallas, the club president, said the club focuses its efforts on eyesight and diseases such as diabetes and measles, which can cause blindness. He said the camera effort is different.

The fire department's problem was immediate and important. Kallas said the club decided to replace it. That led to the Lions Club hosting fundraisers, like selling Macy's gift cards, co-hosting the Mayor''s Cup, a golf tournament, and other fundraisers at Two Steps Downtown Grill. Coming up short, the club then turned to its members for donations.

Kallas gave Danbury Fire Chief Geoff Herald the money on Friday.

Firefighters couldn't be happier to have another camera. When the smoke is too dense in a room to see, the camera displays the hot spots in the room to avoid, and it can find a person. Without the camera, a firefighter is moving on hands and knees for safety. The worst heat, smoke and toxic gases are up higher in the room.

"I feel naked when I go into a fire without one," said Liet. John Halas, a 13-year veteran of the Danbury Fire Department. He arrived at Sunday morning's fire on Harding Drive without one, but the next engine along had one on board.

The camera was developed for military use to spot the enemy in the dark. A person at about 98 degrees stands out against a cooler background.

"We keep finding new uses for it," said Danbury Fire Chief Geoff Herald.

Herald said while it might appear its best use is for finding a person in a burning house, it is also used to find a person lost at night in the woods. It can find a person in the water in the dark. Car mechanics use it to find unusual friction (hot spots) in an engine.

"It also finds hot spots in the over haul," Halas said.

What over haul means in 'fire speak' is after a fire is mostly out, a few hot spots may remain. One essential step the fire department does is look for them and put them out.

"We check for extensions with the camera," said Assistant Fire Chief Bernie Meehan. He said at the Harding Drive fire, the cameras weren't an essential tool at first. "The fire was blowing out the windows at us."

Without the camera, hunting for hot spots in the over haul means tearing off drywall or wood on a wall to see if it's burning behind it. With the camera, it means pointing at the wall until a hot spot is found. Only that spot is opened up and put out.

"That prevents us from opening a wall because there 'might' be a fire there," Herald said.