Abbeville Fire Department buys new/used thermal unit

Trucks and hoses are obviously important tools for the men and women of the Abbeville Fire Department.
However, there is another piece of equipment that has proven its worth in the battle against blazes. For the last 10 years, the Abbeville Fire Department has utilized thermal imagers.
“After we have a structure fire,” Abbeville Fire Chief Jude Mire explained, “the firemen take them and go through the house. They can find any hot spots and water them down before they leave.”
The department has used two thermal imagers purchased through a grant for the last 10 years. Those imagers are beginning to show their age.
“Both of them are giving us trouble,” Mire said.
The Abbeville City Council gave Mire the go-ahead to purchase a new thermal imager during Tuesday night’s regular meeting. Technically it will not be new.
“A brand new one is around $12,000,” Mire told the council. “The one we are looking at is a refurbished one for $8,000. It went to the factory and has all the warranties of a new one.”
Mire said the funds to purchase the imager are in the department’s budget. While going the refurbished route saves the city $4,000, Mire said it saves the department valuable time.
“At the end of every call we go through the house with this,” Mire said. “It tells you the temperature. If it’s 80 degrees, you know it’s all right. If you see it’s 160 or 170, you know it’s still hot. They will re-wet it, so that we don’t have to go back. That was the problem before we had these. If we missed something, we would have to go back to the house if it started smoking.
“We can be almost 100 percent sure. Almost, because nothing is foolproof.”
That time saved has been evident in what has been a busy couple of months for the department.
“In the 14 fires we have had since July,” Mire said, “we only had to go back one time. That is the one time the imagers were just not working.
“That’s a perfect example of why we need a new one.”
There are other examples of the imager being put to good use.
“We use it for different things,” Mire said. “Let’s say we go to a car accident. People sitting in a seat leave a heat signal. If the police want to know if someone was in the passenger’s seat, we can pass this on the seat and see if anyone was in the car and ran away. If chemicals spill in a ditch or water, we can see where the chemicals are in the water.
“It’s such a useful tool.”
With the imager’s price tag, Mire said only one will be purchased this year.
“I would love to get another one next year,” Mire said. “We’ll see what the budget looks like. It’s such a valuable tool.
“It’s hard to imagine not having one.”