Clay County’s East 52 Volunteer Fire Department has received a Twin Lakes grant to purchase thermal imaging cameras.
Fire Chief James King said the some $5,000 will allow each apparatus to replace equipment approaching 15-years-old.
“The main reason we went after the grant was if you’re in a house fire and you’re searching somebody we go by heat,” King said. “In the smoke, you can’t see in front of your face. You can’t see 10 feet, but the thermal imaging camera cuts through that smoke and sees a person’s body heat.”
King said as a volunteer department, the extra grant money goes a long way after a slow fundraising year. King said the department expects to have the cameras in service by the spring.
“We try to get quotes from different vendors, and for volunteers, we try to get the best bang for our buck,” King said. “We try to get the best equipment you can get with what money you have to spend.”
King said he will host a training night once the gear arrives. Use goes beyond just finding body heat with the equipment also capable of identifying flames inside walls, King said.
“We usually do like an in-house training on that part for the guys when we do our regular trainings,” King said. “We’ll take a night and do nothing but thermal cameras and let the guys play with them.”
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