Geographic Location Helps Justify TI for Mutual Aid in FEMA Application
Chief Andy Lockman
Brownstown, Indiana (pop. 3,000) -- In 2002, Chief Andy Lockman of the Brownstown Fire Department in Brownstown, Indiana, initiated the appeal to FEMA for a thermal imager and other equipment for the department. “I figured if we didn’t try, we wouldn’t know whether we could get a grant,” he says. Firefighter Larry MacIntosh offered to write the grant, which requested a total of $144,000, including $25,000 for a fully accessorized Bullard MX with transmitter and command center.
Demonstrating need: “Our department is in the center of the county, so we provide mutual aid to rural departments all over the county. We sat down and figured out the population of the area we serve and the acreage of our county. Then we determined how our community and county would benefit from the addition of a thermal imager to our department.”
Justifying TIs: “In a rural county like Jackson County, there are many applications for thermal imaging, and we included a list of them in our FEMA application. During the year we’ve had our MX, we’ve used it for many different applications. We’ve found anhydrous ammonia leaks, helped conduct missing person investigations with the sheriff, extinguished silo fires, responded to motor vehicle accidents, and we’ve used it for a number of structural fire applications.”
Keys to success: “Our geographic location helped us make our justification. In a rural area such as this, there are such a broad number of applications for thermal imaging. Larry MacIntosh did a great job of putting the application together. He should get much of the credit for its success.”