In a fire, smoke makes it impossible to see. Firefighters usually end up crawling along the floor trying to find their way to victims who are often trapped in back or upper rooms. With no visibility and a limited oxygen supply, victims often perish before they are located and/or firefighters die while trying to find them. Thermal imagers allow firefighters to see in a fire. They are able to see victims and dangerous situations. This allows them to get to victims faster and safer.

Click here to see a 1-minute
video about thermal imagers
This one minute clip is an excerpt
from the documentary Into the Fire.

THERMAL IMAGING CAMERAS WORK

Fire-Rescue Magazine (February 1999)
A nationwide study of the effectiveness of thermal imagers, carried out in 60 test burns around the country, reported the following results:

Without a thermal imager:
  • 60% of the time, firefighters were unable to locate the victim, and
  • More than 30 percent of the time, firefighters couldn't find their way out of the burning house before running out of air.
With a thermal imager:
  • 99% of the time, firefighters were able to locate the victim, and
  • 100% of the time, firefighters found their way out of the burning house.
  • The time required to complete a search dropped by 75% with a thermal imager.

Advanced Rescue Technology (August/September 2001)
The Johnson City Fire Bureau in Johnson City, Tennessee conducted a thermal imaging study with the following results:

Without a thermal imager:
  • A victim search took 8 minutes, 38 seconds.
With a thermal imager:
  • The same victim search 3 minutes, a 60% increase in search efficiency.

Chicago Fire Department Demonstration (May 27, 2003)
The Chicago Fire Academy conducted a technical demonstration to illustrate the time rescuers save when using thermal imagers with the following results:

Without a thermal imager:
  • Firefighters spent 4.5 minutes looking for a "downed" firefighter.
With a thermal imager:
  • Firefighters spent 50% less time searching for their colleague at 2.25 minutes.

Olive Branch Fire Department (2002)
The Olive Branch Fire Department kicked-off a thermal imager campaign by conducting a real-time simulation of a search and rescue of three children. The first time, firefighters went into the smoke-filled building without a thermal imager to search for the children. During the second entry, the children were re-positioned, and firefighters conducted their search with the aid of a thermal imaging camera. The results were as follows:

Without a thermal imager:
  • The first child was found in 2 minutes, and the second child was found in 3 minutes, 40 seconds.
  • After 6 minutes the third child could not be found, so he perished in the simulation.
With a thermal imager:
  • All three children were rescued in 1 minute, 50 seconds.