Fire Chief James R. St. John
The Vestavia Hills Fire Department recently announced that the City of Vestavia Hills has been awarded $50,597 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG). The department’s application competed against thousands of applicants through a peer review process for a portion of $288 million in federal funding. This award will allow the department to outfit all front-line apparatus with state-of-the art thermal imagers, replacing equipment which has become obsolete due to advances in technology.
These devices project an image on a screen by identifying heat differences within the camera’s field of view. Personnel often operate in environments with zero visibility making tasks such as rescuing fire victims extremely difficult. This technology will assist personnel in locating fire victims, locating the seat of the fire, identifying hidden fires in walls, hazardous materials response, and locating victims who are lost or injured outdoors. These imagers will be used on hundreds of calls per year and will place another tool in the hands of personnel, enhancing the level of service to residents.
-Submitted by Ryan Farrell
