Thermal Imaging Exposure Pays Off
Dist. Chief George Rhoden takes a breather after he
isolates the involved container in the ship’s hold.
Jacksonville, Florida (pop.
735,000) -- The Jacksonville Fire Department owns
51 Bullard T3s, one for each station in the city. Being equipped
at this level, Jacksonville takes a lead position among the
large departments in the country that have made a firm commitment
to the technology.
Funding for the initial purchase of 30 units was appropriated by the Jacksonville City Council in November 2002, through a “fast track” request that enabled the department to become equipped within a short timeframe. The remaining 20 units were purchased in 2003.
Fire Chief Ray Alfred credits the speed of the funding decision to several factors. “This speaks volumes about the supportiveness of the administration and council in providing the tools firefighters need to do their jobs well. They understood that if we were do our jobs well, we need thermal imagers,” Chief Alfred explained.
Jacksonville Council President Jerry Holland was instrumental in leading the charge to equip the department with thermal imagers. “Our Jacksonville City Council daily recognizes how fortunate we are to have such a dedicated family of firefighters and rescue personnel,” Holland said. “It is our responsibility to have the most advanced technology that will allow them to perform their heroic jobs as quickly and safely as possible.”
Justifying Thermal Imaging
In justifying the purchase of thermal imagers, Chief Alfred
said education was the most important element of convincing
the council. “First and foremost, they needed to understand
what we do in the fire department,” he said. “Our mission
is the protection of life and property, in that order. We
showed them what that job entails – going into an unfamiliar
building, where you can’t see, someone’s on the outside saying,
‘My baby’s in there,’ or ‘My relative is in there.’ And firefighters
are risking their lives to do this job.”
For the past several years, fire department officials have been taking every opportunity to educate the council about why thermal imagers are important. “It wasn’t any one thing that convinced them,” Chief Alfred said. “It was just exposing them to thermal imagers, constantly saying we need to find the money to buy them.”
In November, before Holland brought the issue to the council, Randy White, president of IAFF Local 122, lobbied each of the council members individually. “I put together a package of materials that explained the benefits of thermal imaging,” White explained. “I included photographs from past Jacksonville fires, stories of saves that have happened in different areas of the country, and a description of how thermal imaging could have made a difference in the Worcester (Massachusetts) fire.”
Laying a Foundation for Thermal Imaging
While most expenditures take at least six weeks to gain the
approval of the Jacksonville City Council, this one took
ten days. “We’ve been working to get funding for thermal
imagers for a while now through different avenues,” White
said. “About a year ago, Councilman Doyle Carter got us started
down this path by using some of his discretionary funds to
purchase a Bullard TIx for his district. Then the issue stalled
for a while, until Jerry Holland stepped up to the plate
to make an emergency appropriation in November… All 19 council
members voted unanimously to support the purchase.”
Councilman Carter explained his role in prioritizing the technology. “When I first saw the thermal imaging camera, I knew this was a tool we needed at every fire station,” he explained. “Not long after I started looking into purchasing one for my district, the equipment became even more compact and less expensive, which made it easier to use and afford. I made arrangements for the purchase of one of these cameras for my district fire station… and challenged the other district council members to do the same for the stations in their respective districts.”
Jacksonville firefighters who have used thermal imagers in their work say the tools are making a significant impact in operations ranging from shipboard firefighting to search and rescue.
Ship Fire Quickly Contained
District Chief George Rhoden was one of the sector officers
at a container ship fire on Jan. 21, where the Bullard T3
was instrumental in identifying the source of a fire in the
ship’s hold. When firefighters arrived, smoke was billowing
out of the 40-foot by 40-foot opening in the deck. Chief
Rhoden trained the thermal imager on the stacks of shipping
containers in the hold and quickly identified the container
that was burning.
“Without the camera, we could see nothing,” Chief Rhoden recounted. “With the camera, we saw a very bright white image that told us exactly which container was burning. We were able to direct the hoselines to the correct container to cool it down on the outside.”
Firefighters then made entry into the fourth level of the hold to open the container and apply water inside. The damage was confined primarily to the involved container, which was transporting Styrofoam products. Fire officials later learned that a nearby container carried used car batteries, which could have caused an explosion if the fire had spread. The incident commander declared the fire under control after 20 minutes on scene.
Mother and Son Pulled from Burning Home
Later in January, Jacksonville firefighters used thermal imaging
technology to locate and remove a mother and her little boy
from a burning downtown home. Lt. Andy Graham used the device
on scene.
“We forced our way into the house, and I moved immediately through the hallway to the back bedroom to search,” Lt. Graham said. “Within about 30 seconds I found a mother and her son lying on the floor of the bedroom. It took us seconds instead of minutes to find them.”
Elderly Citizen Grateful for New Tool
On Feb. 4, a 75 year-old woman called 911 when she noticed
smoke coming out of the ductwork in her home. An electrical
fire several years ago had caused significant damage to this
home, and now the elderly homeowner was facing another fire
and potential loss of property. Capt. Randy Wyse arrived
with a Bullard T3.
“I found it right away,” Capt. Wyse said. “The fire was in her AC/heat pump unit. I literally turned off her air conditioner and said to call an AC man to fix it. That was it… We had to rip up her walls during the previous call, and this time, there was absolutely no damage. Without a thermal imager, we would have been crawling around in her attic, tearing into her walls… She was very, very happy.”
A Productive Partnership
Council members and fire department leaders recognize the benefits
that have already been realized through the effective use
of thermal imaging in Jacksonville.
Fire Chief Ray Alfred emphasized that the department administration worked closely with the union to secure funding for the technology. “It was a partnership… We joined together to provide these to the firefighters,” Chief Alfred said. “We agree that the addition of thermal imaging will go a long way toward protecting lives of our citizens and firefighters, as well as greatly improving the efficiency of their everyday work.”
Funding Tip:
Jacksonville Fire Department received funding from the Jacksonville City Council after several years of talking about the benefits of thermal imaging. Take every opportunity to educate members of your local budgetary authority about why thermal imagers are critical to your work. Formal appeals can be made effectively with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation from Bullard. To get your copy of the presentation, call 877-BULLARD.