Thermal imaging camera proposal a hot topic

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AUGUSTA – A bill that could save lives, property and taxpayer dollars is sparking interest from many corners of the state.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. A. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, would help the more than 400 fire departments in Maine buy thermal imaging cameras through bulk purchasing. The cameras – one of the hottest items in the firefighting industry – have been financially out of reach for many departments.

“In an ideal world, every firetruck would be equipped with one of these miraculous devices, but the cost is too prohibitive for most municipalities,” Trahan said.”With my plan, towns could pool their purchases to get a bulk buying discount, and a state loan program would help communities pay for them.”

The high-tech cameras can be taken into a building filled with thick smoke and the view through the camera’s lens is as if the smoke were not there, Lt. Adam Miceli of the Rockland Fire Department said.

Most thermal imaging cameras cost between $18,000 and $25,000 each, according to Mark Dunbar, a member of the Bangor Fire Department and thermal imaging coordinator for Maine Fire Training and Education, a statewide organization. There are some models that can be bought for $10,000, he said, but “it may not be what a lot of the departments want.”

According to Dunbar, New Jersey and Massachusetts are two states that have taken similar steps to buy in volume. By doing so, those states were able to negotiate a substantially lower rate – close to half the usual price, he said.

Of Maine’s more than 400 fire departments, about 100 have purchased cameras, according to Dunbar. Bangor has four cameras. Through the generosity of the Cole Foundation in Bangor, 32 departments have received grants to help buy cameras, he said.

The idea for the thermal imaging camera bill was sparked when Trahan attended Waldoboro Day, an annual celebration in his hometown. The local fire department had a temporary building set up where firefighters were demonstrating how the department’s new camera worked.

As soon as Trahan went into the smoke-filled structure, he said, “It was immediately obvious to me this saved lives and property.”

For Trahan, the concern was no longer about money, it was about “how fast we can get these things.”

State representatives were lining up to co-sponsor Trahan’s bill, he said, pointing out that he had to limit the endorsers to nine. Trahan also intends to request an emergency preamble so, if passed, the bill would take effect immediately.

“I’ve been getting a tremendous amount of support,” Trahan said. Of the nine co-signers, many are in leadership or committee chair positions, he said, adding, “That’s a good sign [and] it’s nonpartisan.”

Another measure Trahan is contemplating so his bill won’t be snuffed out in the legislative process is to not tie the bill to an appropriation of money. Therefore, if the bill passes, but is not funded by the appropriations committee, it will not die.

The bill proposes to appropriate $500,000 as seed money to create a thermal imaging camera fund that would provide low-cost loans and rejuvenate itself through loan repayments.

Rep. Michael McAlevey, R-Waterboro, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that there are many funding opportunities other than by appropriation. The state could allow fire departments to seek loans from the Finance Authority of Maine, receive money through the state’s Rainy Day Fund or establish a public-private partnership with donations, he said.

“It’s a very worthwhile project,” McAlevey said. “I’m sure the Legislature’s going to fund it – it’s just how to fund it.”

When Rockland purchased its thermal-imaging camera three months ago, it saved $3,000 through the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Chief Ray Wooster said. The city scraped its pennies together to buy the camera by selling an old fire engine, getting an insurance reimbursement and holding fund-raisers.

Good old-fashioned fund-raising is the way many departments are working toward purchasing the latest technology in fire equipment.

The town of St. George began saving for a camera by having a spaghetti supper, Candice Davis, a member of the fire department’s ladies auxiliary known as the Fire Flies, said. Upcoming plans include another public supper and a fund-raiser by the local Boy Scouts.

State Fire Marshal John Dean said that if the state could develop a mechanism so that the cameras could be purchased collectively and the prices were held for a certain length of time, it “may push towns to get out and do the fund-raising.”

In pointing out the camera’s many uses, Miceli noted it provides a digital temperature readout for the object that is shown in the cross hairs of the camera lens. Hot spots show up as being white and cool areas are dark, he said.

Besides helping rescue personnel locate people or animals in a fire, the camera is very helpful in locating hidden flames and hot spots, such as electrical wires smoldering inside a wall. Because the camera can pick up temperature differences up to one-five hundredth of a degree, it is particularly valuable in finding fires that cannot be seen.

Recently, Rockland firefighters located hot wiring in a taxi cab engine, which had been smoldering, but the source of the smoke could not be found.

One of the real values is minimizing the time it takes to find problems, Miceli said.

Another benefit of the modern technology is that cameras can be set in a hazardous area, such as a propane leak, and monitor the situation from a distance, without putting people in danger, Wooster said.

Rockland’s camera has a transmitter that sends the camera’s image to a television monitor in the chief’s truck. In the case of a propane leak, the equipment would show how much gas escaped from a tank because temperature and the color that is shown through the camera could determine the level of fuel in the tank.

The camera can help reduce property damage by determining exactly where a fire is within a wall, so that the firefighters break through only the wall area where they know fire exists.

The camera can also be used as a videotaping machine, which can help in training or in documenting a fire, Wooster said.

“It’s just a very versatile thing,” he said, admitting that the department probably has not yet discovered all its possible uses.

“Maine Fire Training and Education is trying to get a camera in every fire department in the state,” Dunbar said. “[We’re] approaching 25 percent of that goal.”

“This bill is a step in the right direction,” he said.