Firefighters with the Brent Rural Fire Department, south of Sallisaw, have new sets of eyes to help fight fires and save those who may be trapped in structure fires.

Tom Schlegel, a retired firefighter from the Carol Stream Fire District in Carol Stream, Ill., is now a resident of the Brent area and a volunteer firefighter with the Brent Fire Department. Realizing the volunteer fire department has a small amount of money for equipment, Schlegel contacted his old fire department and asked for help.

The firefighters with the fire department in Carol Stream, a suburb of Chicago, responded by sending the Brent department two thermal imagery cameras. The two cameras are believed to be the only such instruments belonging to Sequoyah County fire departments, and Schlegel instructed Brent firefighters in their use Thursday evening.

Schlegel explained the cameras are not really cameras, but are devices able to detect heat sources even in a burning building. They allow firefighters to see into a fire to find victims and hot spots.

"They work off of heat energy," Schlegel explained. "They are used to view energy. Anything really hot shows up really white."

The thermal imagery devices can help firefighters locate a possible victim in a burning and smoke-filled structure, and can also detect the main source of a fire. He recalled that when his fire department first got the cameras they were called to a fire at a garage.

"We fought that fire and fought it and fought it," Schlegel explained. "Then I got one of the cameras, which showed us where the fire started, in one of the cars."

The thermal imagery devices, Schlegel said, "enable us to get deeper and further into a fire, especially a structure fire that is full of smoke. You can put this up to your face and you can see right through the smoke."

That ability enables firefighters to more quickly extinguish a fire at its source. The cameras can also be used to find hot spots. Firefighters, Schlegel noted, can put out a fire, then be called back to the same fire because it has re-ignited from a "hot spot," meaning a smoldering area which was unknown to the firefighters.

"There's nothing like putting out a fire, then being called back at 2 a.m. in the morning to put out the same fire again," Schlegel pointed out.

The cameras will enable firefighters to find these hot spots during what they refer to as the "overhaul," which is when firefighters inspect a structure after a fire has been extinguished to determine if any area exists which may re-start the fire.

The thermal imagery devices will also allow the firefighters to keep themselves safe in a burning structure by showing them where the hot spots are and how to avoid them while still fighting the fire.

"So, it can keep a firefighter safe too. You can use it as a sort of size-up tool to see what's going on," Schlegel said.

Because the thermal imagery device has a heat sensor, it can also be used in some hazard materials situations by determining where the materials might be the hottest.

The heat imagery cameras, Schlegel said in answer to a question, can also be used to find victims of vehicle accidents who might have been ejected from the vehicle, if the victim's body is still emitting heat, but is not visible to rescue personnel.

The cameras, he added, do not work through glass or through water, because both glass and the water's surface reflect the imagery beams back to the camera.

After the firefighters had inspected the cameras, the Brent firefighters used a fog machine to emulate a smoke-filled structure at their fire station, and the firefighters donned their equipment and, using the thermal imagery cameras, went into the fire station in pairs to find victims. They were successful.

The devices, Schlegel said, were expensive when they were first introduced between 10 and 12 years ago, and cost about $20,000 each. Now the prices have dropped to between $8,000 and $10,000. Schlegel's former fire department is getting new thermal imagery cameras and, at his request, donated the old cameras to the Brent Fire Department.

The heat imagery cameras, he concluded, "are pretty cool."