New equipment helps volunteer firefighters save lives

When the Daviess County Community Foundation's grants committee began reviewing funding proposals in August of 2006, the one from the Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department quickly caught their attention. That's because they learned some scary information from the firefighters' request. The department's proposal told of firefighters entering burning buildings with no way to see through the flames and smoke. They talked of falling to their hands and knees, searching for unconscious victims and the source of fires.

   A thermal imaging system would allow the firefighters to see through the smoke, cutting their search time by 75 percent. The greatest benefit would be finding and securing victims as quickly as possible before injury or death. "When we're fighting a fire, smoke is our greatest enemy. It can be so thick we can see just a few feet," said WTVFD firefighter Ken Showalter. "In a dark room filled with smoke, our firefighters can use thermal imaging to find a person who is unconcious or lost from smoke inhalation or a child who is hiding, as they often do, under a bed or in a closet."

   The Foundation's grants committee gave the firefighters' proposal high marks and approved a $14,000 grant, allowing the department to purchase the thermal imaging system. The equipment looks almost like the video-recorders found in many homes; the big difference, of course, is that the device allows firefighters to see in the dark and through smoke using infrared technology.

   Showalter says that the new equipment was put into use within days of its purchase, when firefighters were called to fight a chimney fire in a country home. Firefighters quickly got the fire under control, but the imaging system allowed them to identify a hidden "hot spot" that likely would have gone undetected until it began a fire much later. Showalter believes the device kept the family from possibly losing their home.

   "People and businesses throughout the community will benefit greatly from the Daviess County Community Foundation's generosity for years to come," he said.