Approximately one-third of the $16,500 needed to purchase a Thermal Imaging Camera for the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District has been received according to Fire Chief Mike Beaver.
Donations of $2,500 from State Farm Insurance and $1,000 from the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, Inc., were received Thursday.
Chief Beaver said the thermal imaging camera can help firefighters find hidden fire and hot spots within buildings, locate people even in thick smoke and to detect hot spots in void spaces.
“Houses are a series of boxes,” Chief Beaver said. “When people add onto homes, they quite often create void spaces or places where fire can hide and we can’t find it until it breaks out again.”
Chief Beaver said that in addition to saving lives and increasing safety for the firefighters, the unit can help decrease damage caused when holes are punched into walls to look into attics and crawl spaces.
“We’ve talked about the need for this unit ever since they came on the market,” Chief Beaver said. “Like all electronic things, their quality has gone up and the cost has gone down. In Portland, they held a telethon on TV to raise money to buy three of them.”
Albany, Lebanon and Brownsville fire departments have all purchased thermal imaging units.
“We’ve set a goal of raising the needed funds in one year,” Chief Beaver said.
The local department has used several types of imaging units during burn to learn exercises. “The unit we hope to buy seems to work best for our applications. It’s the same type as the one Brownsville just bought,” Chief Beaver said.
Chief Beaver said the community will benefit from this equipment.
“Sweet Home has always supported the department when it came to buying equipment like this,” Chief Beaver said. “We appreciate this. We wouldn’t be able to purchase this without donations.”
Persons or businesses that would like to donate toward this project can do so at the fire department or by mailing a donation to Thermal Imaging Camera, C/O Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District, 1099 Long, Sweet Home, Oregon 97386.