It’s comforting to know that if you or your loved ones ever became trapped in a room that was completely dark and filled with smoke, the Oxford Fire Department would still be able to locate everyone.
Last week, twp. officials authorized the fire dept. to spend $16,084 with Time Emergency Equipment on a hand-held thermal imager and its portable command center.
It will be used by firefighters for a wide variety of things including search and rescue, sizing-up and attacking fires, locating hidden fires such as electrical fires behind walls, finding smoldering materials that could reignite a fire, evaluating hypothermia in a victim and tracking hazardous material spills
‘It has been proven throughout the nation, throughout the world, that these tools are saving lives,? said Fire Capt. Ron Jahlas.
All objects has a certain temperature and emits waves of energy called infrared radiation. Hot objects emit more energy than cold ones.
A thermal imager translates these energy waves into a viewable image. The hand-held device basically sees heat and shows temperature differences, as little as half a degree, via color changes on a screen.
Hotter objects show as white, cooler objects appear as black, and objects in between these temperatures are displayed in shades of gray. The model being purchased by Oxford has a special feature which gives firefighters the ability to see heat levels by color. Starting at 500 degrees Fahrenheit, heated objects are tinted yellow and gradually transition to solid red as heat levels rise.
‘The technology is so advanced that if somebody were to (have) walk(ed) across the room within the past 15-20 seconds, I would see their footsteps because the carpet changed temperature just from them walking,? Jahlas said.
In extreme smoke or blackout conditions where visibility is zero, Jahlas said the thermal imager can show complete outlines of people based on their body heat and the temperature of the ambient air around them.
Because infrared radiation is not blocked by smoke, not only can firefighters find victims faster, they can identify the main body of a fire earlier and detect structural dangers.
When it comes to things like backdrafts and flashovers, fires that kill firefighters on a daily basis, the thermal imager can be used to help detect conditions that can lead to those dangerous situations such areas of heat accumulation and superheated gases.
Backdrafts can occur when a fire is starved of oxygen. Combustion ceases, but the fuel gases and smoke remain at high temperatures, so if oxygen is reintroduced, say by opening a door, combustion can restart, often resulting in an explosive effect.
A flashover is the near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area. It occurs when the majority of surfaces in a space are heated to the point at which they give off flammable gases hot enough to sustain combustion. ‘With the thermal imager, we can actually see the heat difference in the air in the smoke itself,? Jahlas said.
The thermal imager can also help firefighters identify possible ventilation points. Ventilation reduces the chances of backdraft or flashover. ‘We can hopefully prevent an emergency or a death in the fire service before it happens,? Jahlas said.
Supervisor Bill Dunn noted the device could be used to locate someone in the woods or laying on the side of the road in a ditch or off to the side of the Polly Ann Trail.
Jahlas agreed noting it could be used to scan the area after a car accident to see if someone is lying in the brush. It could even be used to look at a car seat to see if someone had been sitting there. ‘It’s amazing what you can see with these tools,? Jahlas said.