Thermal Imager Pays
for Itself in 35 Days

Dear Firefighters:

A little more than one month out of the box, the Granbury, Texas VFD's thermal imager paid for itself by warning firefighters of an imminent ceiling collapse. On December 29, 1998, at 3:30 am, firefighters from Granbury responded to a structural fire at an auto body shop. When we arrived, heavy smoke was coming out of the all-steel structure, and flames were shooting through the skylights. I took on thermal imager duty as part of my responsibility for tactical operations at the fire.

Initial entry was made through one of the offices, and a blitz attack began. When I scanned the office with the imager, I saw the ceiling joists were burned through in several locations and ordered three firefighters to make an immediate retreat. A few moments later, the ceiling collapsed, bringing down an air conditioning unit and the stored items above into the office area. No firefighters were trapped; no one was injured, and the fight continued. This event occurred less than five minutes after the initial entry. Without the view the imager gave us, the four-man crew might not have come out.

Twenty thousand dollars seems like an enormous expense for a small town volunteer fire department like ours, but considering the potential outcome of an event like this, is it really? We always say, "If it saves one life, it's worth it." We said this when we bought the jaws, the AED and other items, but do we mean it? The statement generally means saving lives of the public. Rarely, if ever, do we consider ourselves among the lives worth saving. Aren't we worth it too?

What will a fire chief say to the injured firefighters or, quite possibly, to the families of the dead, when he or she knows, without a doubt, that technology exists to reduce the possibility of it occurring? "Sorry, but $20,000 is just too much to spend" is not the right response, whether we're talking about the life of a child or the safety of a firefighter.

Captain Scott Cook
Granbury Fire Department

The Bullard Save-A-Life Club is a reward and recognition program for firefighters who save a life while using a Bullard Thermal Imager. Firefighters who save a life will be inducted into the Bullard Save-A-Life Club, and will be presented with a plaque and certificate documenting the life saving event. Their stories will also be shared with other firefighters on Bullard's website and in upcoming issues of Get The Picture. Bullard Inside Sales can help you submit your story. Reach them at 800-227-0423.

The people of Vinalhaven understand the life-saving benefits of thermal imaging technology. More than a year ago, the fire department began an appeal to this 1,300-person fishing community in Maine, and on February 4, the department received their Bullard Thermal Imaging Camera.

A church youth group raised the majority of funds with a fundraising letter directed to both year-round and summer residents of this isolated island 13 miles off the coast of Maine. Traditional fundraising activities, such as community dinners at the local firehouse, were the source of the remainder of funds needed.

Bill Schrader, sales representative for Fire Tech & Safety of Winthrop, Maine, sold the Bullard imager to the department. "Vinalhaven took the time to look at three or four imagers. The difference is in how Bullard packages their imager. The screen is bigger, the clarity of the image is more defined," he said.

Citing Bullard's use of Ultem thermoplastic materials, Schrader continued, "But in my opinion, the biggest selling feature is durability. Bullard is head and shoulders above the competition there."

As many in the fire industry anticipate, Schrader says thermal imaging will revolutionize the way firefighters do their work. "Conventional ways of doing search and rescue and internal attack are obsolete. I heard someone say something about thermal imaging that has really stuck with me: Years ago, the fire service was given their lungs back when SCBAs were introduced. Now we're given our eyes back with thermal imaging."

Bullard: The Bullard patch antenna (the large square white piece), that is provided as part of the transmitter receiver system is highly water-resistant, designed to be used in a heavy downpour. The antenna can be used externally as long as the coaxial cable connection is waterproofed at the point where the cable is affixed to the patch antenna. You should also work with a local electronics expert to be sure you're using the correct cabling to the antenna, and that you're addressing any other signal issues that could arise from extending the antenna further away from the receiver. Remember that Bullard has the strongest transmitter on the market and our unit is the only one that is FCC-approved.

Bullard: Raytheon, the technology provider for the Bullard camera core, precision tunes the picture of the Bullard unit to Bullard specs for optimal performance when the camera core is heated to 95°F instead of the standard 72°F, or room temperature used by other companies. Other design specifications were also established by Bullard for best performance for firefighters in fire conditions.

Bullard's large four-inch back-lit LCD screen maintains picture quality from station house to fire conditions better than our competitors, whose imagers tend to lose picture clarity in a fire environment.

Bullard: The Bullard Thermal Imager detects thermal energy similar to the way your eye detects light. All objects have a certain temperature and emit waves of thermal energy called infrared radiation. The hotter an object, the more energy waves are emitted. Thermal imagers cannot see through walls, glass or other solid objects, but they can detect the difference in surface temperature between two objects with a variance in temperature of only .5°C. Even though you can't see through solid objects, you can gather important information about those objects by applying intuitive thinking.

While scanning a room with a thermal imager, you can tell more than if one wall is warmer than another. You can see where the studs are because they conduct the heat behind the wall differently than the insulation or air between the studs, giving a different heat signature. This can give you information about the construction of the wall and the relevant temperature behind or even inside the wall. Just remember, all objects conduct heat differently. Fuel in a tank will cool or heat the outside surface of the tank, and the level of the fuel will be evident with a distinct difference in the surface temperatures.

Glass is not transparent in the eye of the thermal imager. What you do see are reflections of the surrounding environment. Objects in a room will emit their radiant energy and reflect off of glass or other glossy, highly polished surfaces. These reflective surfaces resemble mirrors when you view them, but they may be your exit out of a room.

You cannot see through a body of water with a thermal imager, but in a water rescue situation, you will be able to spot objects floating on top of the water, which is extremely helpful at night. Because chemicals have a different heat signature than water, chemicals floating on the surface of the water can also be detected.

Your Bullard Thermal Imager can be used in an endless number of ways. A simple, intuitive understanding of the images you are viewing can give you the information you need to get your job done safely and effectively.

The Fairmont Fire Department of Fairmont, Minnesota, has gained a first-hand appreciation for the durability of Bullard's Thermal Imager. Firefighters responded to a morning call in January from a homeowner with an attic fire. While they were moving through the access hole into the attic, their Bullard thermal imager slipped, hitting Firefighter Matt Hodgman on the head, falling to the concrete garage floor and landing on the LCD display.

Firefighter Roger Carlson, who had been instrumental in evaluating imaging equipment prior to the purchase, picked up the imager from the floor, expecting it to be broken. Noticing that the display indicated sleep mode, Carlson hit the sleep button and the screen turned back on, working as good as new, without so much as a scratch to show for its fall.

After that incident proved the imager's durability, Fairmont firefighters began calling it "The Bull." Apparently, Bullard's imager has earned this nickname, because departments around the country are adopting it. Bullard will use "The Bull" theme in its new promotional campaign to begin with the FDIC show in March.