By Carl Nix

The next time you have some downtime at the station, think about engaging your newest recruits in a few simple training exercises using a thermal imaging camera (TIC).

Although TICs are becoming more and more entrenched in the fire service, the technology of this tool needs to be well understood so firefighters can make the best decisions when time is of the essence. Hands-on training conducted by an experienced firefighter at the firehouse is extremely valuable for all firefighters but especially for our newest recruits. This is not to say that I don’t recommend having firefighters attend formal classroom instructions for TIC training, because I do. I’m recommending in addition to classroom training that your firefighters engage in 15 to 30 minutes of TIC exercises two or three times a month to help provide them with a greater understanding of this tool. Let’s look at a few training drills that you can conduct at the station in a short period of time.

Temperature Sensing and Reflectivity

Understanding that your TIC can only measure surface temperature, not air temperature, is critical when using your TIC in structure fires. Here’s a quick exercise to help your firefighters understand this concept. Take your firefighters to the kitchen. Turn the burner on high on your gas stove and position your TIC so the display is looking through the flames. The flames are not being measured by your TIC and therefore have very little effect on the temperature being displayed. Now, place a cast iron frying pan on the burner; your TIC will provide a temperature measurement because it has a surface to measure.

Firefighters need to be aware of how reflectivity can impact temperature readings on a TIC as well. If you have an electric stove, try covering one burner with aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Turn on that burner and another burner that is uncovered. Point your TIC first at the covered burner and then at the uncovered burner. The TIC will give you different temperature readings because of the reflectivity of the aluminum foil. Reflectance (or reflectivity) is defined as the amount of heat bouncing off the surface of an object. The more reflective the surface, the less accurate the measurement on your TIC.

While still in the kitchen, grab an aluminum sauce pan and fill it with water. Place it on your stove burner on high. Now, grab a cast iron skillet and place it on a burner next to your aluminum sauce pan. Turn both burners on and wait for the water to boil and the sauce pan to heat up. We know that water boils at 212°F. Point your TIC at the side of your sauce pan and the temperature reading will be below 212°F because of the reflectance of the outside of the pan. The TIC is reading the reflected temperature of the room, not the temperature of the pan.

Now use your TIC to look at the reflection of the skillet on the side of the pan and you should see the temperature (extreme white) of the skillet in the pan. If you point your TIC to look at the pan where you see the reflection of the skillet, your TIC will read the temperature of the skillet in the reflection from the pan. Identifying reflection can take some getting used to, but with consistent training your firefighters will quickly master this skill. Your firefighters will most likely experience reflection in a fire so they need to know how their TIC will interpret this scenario. Other examples of reflectivity include glass, metals, wet surfaces like a tile floor, concrete, and even brick, which all can trick firefighters into misinterpreting the temperature of an object.

Read more 201 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Oct 9, 2017 When You Have Downtime By Carl Nix The next time you have some downtime at the station, think about engaging your newest recruits in a few simple training exercises using a thermal imaging camera (TIC). Although TICs are becoming more and more entrenched in the fire service, the technology of this tool needs to be well understood so firefighters can make the best decisions when time is of the essence. Hands-on training conducted by an experienced firefighter at the firehouse is extremely valuable for all firefighters but especially for our newest recruits. This is not to say that I don’t recommend having firefighters attend formal classroom instructions for TIC training, because I do. I’m recommending in addition to classroom training that your firefighters engage in 15 to 30 minutes of TIC exercises two or three times a month to help provide them with a greater understanding of this tool. Let’s look at a few training drills that you can conduct at the station in a short period of time. Temperature Sensing and Reflectivity Understanding that your TIC can only measure surface temperature, not air temperature, is critical when using your TIC in structure fires. Here’s a quick exercise to help your firefighters understand this concept. Take your firefighters to the kitchen. Turn the burner on high on your gas stove and position your TIC so the display is looking through the flames. The flames are not being measured by your TIC and therefore have very little effect on the temperature being displayed. Now, place a cast iron frying pan on the burner; your TIC will provide a temperature measurement because it has a surface to measure. Firefighters need to be aware of how reflectivity can impact temperature readings on a TIC as well. If you have an electric stove, try covering one burner with aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Turn on that burner and another burner that is uncovered. Point your TIC first at the covered burner and then at the uncovered burner. The TIC will give you different temperature readings because of the reflectivity of the aluminum foil. Reflectance (or reflectivity) is defined as the amount of heat bouncing off the surface of an object. The more reflective the surface, the less accurate the measurement on your TIC. While still in the kitchen, grab an aluminum sauce pan and fill it with water. Place it on your stove burner on high. Now, grab a cast iron skillet and place it on a burner next to your aluminum sauce pan. Turn both burners on and wait for the water to boil and the sauce pan to heat up. We know that water boils at 212°F. Point your TIC at the side of your sauce pan and the temperature reading will be below 212°F because of the reflectance of the outside of the pan. The TIC is reading the reflected temperature of the room, not the temperature of the pan. Now use your TIC to look at the reflection of the skillet on the side of the pan and you should see the temperature (extreme white) of the skillet in the pan. If you point your TIC to look at the pan where you see the reflection of the skillet, your TIC will read the temperature of the skillet in the reflection from the pan. Identifying reflection can take some getting used to, but with consistent training your firefighters will quickly master this skill. Your firefighters will most likely experience reflection in a fire so they need to know how their TIC will interpret this scenario. Other examples of reflectivity include glass, metals, wet surfaces like a tile floor, concrete, and even brick, which all can trick firefighters into misinterpreting the temperature of an object. Read more 226 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Oct 9, 2017 When You Have Downtime By Carl Nix The next time you have some downtime at the station, think about engaging your newest recruits in a few simple training exercises using a thermal imaging camera (TIC). Although TICs are becoming more and more entrenched in the fire service, the technology of this tool needs to be well understood so firefighters can make the best decisions when time is of the essence. Hands-on training conducted by an experienced firefighter at the firehouse is extremely valuable for all firefighters but especially for our newest recruits. This is not to say that I don’t recommend having firefighters attend formal classroom instructions for TIC training, because I do. I’m recommending in addition to classroom training that your firefighters engage in 15 to 30 minutes of TIC exercises two or three times a month to help provide them with a greater understanding of this tool. Let’s look at a few training drills that you can conduct at the station in a short period of time. Temperature Sensing and Reflectivity Understanding that your TIC can only measure surface temperature, not air temperature, is critical when using your TIC in structure fires. Here’s a quick exercise to help your firefighters understand this concept. Take your firefighters to the kitchen. Turn the burner on high on your gas stove and position your TIC so the display is looking through the flames. The flames are not being measured by your TIC and therefore have very little effect on the temperature being displayed. Now, place a cast iron frying pan on the burner; your TIC will provide a temperature measurement because it has a surface to measure. Firefighters need to be aware of how reflectivity can impact temperature readings on a TIC as well. If you have an electric stove, try covering one burner with aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Turn on that burner and another burner that is uncovered. Point your TIC first at the covered burner and then at the uncovered burner. The TIC will give you different temperature readings because of the reflectivity of the aluminum foil. Reflectance (or reflectivity) is defined as the amount of heat bouncing off the surface of an object. The more reflective the surface, the less accurate the measurement on your TIC. While still in the kitchen, grab an aluminum sauce pan and fill it with water. Place it on your stove burner on high. Now, grab a cast iron skillet and place it on a burner next to your aluminum sauce pan. Turn both burners on and wait for the water to boil and the sauce pan to heat up. We know that water boils at 212°F. Point your TIC at the side of your sauce pan and the temperature reading will be below 212°F because of the reflectance of the outside of the pan. The TIC is reading the reflected temperature of the room, not the temperature of the pan. Now use your TIC to look at the reflection of the skillet on the side of the pan and you should see the temperature (extreme white) of the skillet in the pan. If you point your TIC to look at the pan where you see the reflection of the skillet, your TIC will read the temperature of the skillet in the reflection from the pan. Identifying reflection can take some getting used to, but with consistent training your firefighters will quickly master this skill. Your firefighters will most likely experience reflection in a fire so they need to know how their TIC will interpret this scenario. Other examples of reflectivity include glass, metals, wet surfaces like a tile floor, concrete, and even brick, which all can trick firefighters into misinterpreting the temperature of an object. Read more 211 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Oct 9, 2017 Simple, Flexible Design Is Hallmark of Wilkesboro (NC) Fire Department Custom Pumper   Alan M. Petrillo The Wilkesboro (NC) Fire Department’s truck committee wanted a simple, flexible design in a new pumper that would allow them to change things around on the vehicle as the need arose. They also needed more compartment space for hydraulic rescue equipment and wanted to keep the size of the wheelbase and the pump panel to a minimum. The committee got what it wanted in a custom pumper from 4 Guys Fire Trucks. 1 The Wilkesboro (NC) Fire Department had 4 Guys Fire Trucks build this custom pumper on a Spartan Gladiator chassis with a ELFD long four door cab. [Photos 1-3 courtesy of the Wilkesboro (NC) Fire Department.] Jason Smithey, Wilkesboro’s chief, says this is the sixth piece of apparatus he’s been involved in purchasing in his career as both a paid and volunteer firefighter. “We wanted a vehicle that we were going to use in some capacity for 30 years,” Smithey says. “It might run first out for 10 years, then second out for the next 10 years, and then third out after that. At that time, we also could expand its role into a hazardous materials vehicle if needed.” Bob Pursel, owner of Commonwealth Fire Equipment Co. Inc., sold the rig to Wilkesboro and is a longtime friend of Smithey. “He had seen some pumpers on the 4 Guys Web site and called me to ask for more information,” Pursel says. “He asked 4 Guys to allow him to work with me because of our past association instead of with a North Carolina dealer, and 4 Guys agreed.” Rig Features Pursel notes that the Wilkesboro truck committee wanted a narrow pump panel and as much compartment space on the vehicle as possible so they could make it a combination pumper-rescue unit. “They also got rid of the crosslays at the midship station and relocated [preconnected lines] all to the rear of the pumper,” he says. “There are four speedlays in removable trays, each piped to a 2½-inch discharge below each tray. The department also can put a reducer or gated wye on one of the discharges to have smaller-diameter hose preconnected.” 2 The Wilkesboro pumper carries a Hale Qmax SX 1,500-gpm side-mount pump with a 35-inch-wide pump panel and manual valves. As delivered, the pumper has a Spartan Gladiator chassis and ELFD four-door cab with seating for six firefighters featuring a 203½-inch wheelbase, a 33-foot 10-inch overall length, and a 9-foot 6½-inch overall height. The pumper is powered by a Cummins 450-horsepower (hp) ISX12 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission and carries a Hale Qmax XS 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) side-mount pump, a 600-gallon copolymer water tank, and an FRC Pump Boss pressure governor. Water Delivery Smithey says the Read more 246 0 Article rating: No rating RSS FirstPrevious5378537953805381538253835384538553865387NextLast Theme picker Filter News Catagories Categories News (193) RSS Expand/Collapse Washington News (11539) RSS Expand/Collapse National News (11100) RSS Expand/Collapse WFC News (109) RSS Expand/Collapse Legislative Announcements (7) RSS Expand/Collapse Flag Lowerings (15) RSS Expand/Collapse Memorial Information (24) RSS Expand/Collapse Sections (6) RSS Expand/Collapse Emergency Medical Services (1) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Administrative Support (17) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Mechanics (18541) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Training Safety & Officers (25) RSS Expand/Collapse Public Fire Educators (4) RSS Expand/Collapse HazMat Committee (0) RSS Expand/Collapse Filter to see National, Washington or WFC News, or filter to the Section News you are looking for! Search News Articles Search Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement - Copyright 2024 by Washington Fire Chiefs Home Members About Us News Calendar Resources Documents Sections County Fire Chiefs FRWC WSAFM