Using your Thermal Imager For Salvage and Overhaul

Having been around the fire service awhile, one thing I’ve learned is that firefighters would rather do just about anything other than salvage and overhaul. Even though these jobs are not the most exciting aspects of firefighting, both operations are critical components to successfully fighting structural fires.

Overhaul is more common and frequently used by firefighters, while salvage is often overlooked. Salvage and overhaul can save furniture, clothing, heirlooms and family photographs. These operations minimize the impact of structural fire damage, while still safeguarding against time-consuming, expensive and potentially very dangerous rekindles. Both operations can be completed easier and faster by firefighters who employ thermal imagers (TIs) effectively.

Salvage operations

While overhaul is a common fireground application, salvage must be specifically coordinated prior to and during overhaul. Salvage is frequently accomplished by covering household items to protect them from water damage or by removing items from the structure to protect them from fire, smoke and water damage.

I’ve spoken to several fire department personnel who lament the all-too-common circumstance where salvage operations begin too late or not at all. TIs can help improve the capability of salvage operations when properly coordinated. Begin by ensuring that the first-arriving company enters the structure with a TI. Even in dense smoke, the TI can show firefighters the type of room they are entering. While the first engine company in will be trying to identify the location of the fire and concentrate on extinguishing it, the follow-up companies can devise a salvage plan. By looking at the layout of the structure early in the incident, firefighters can determine where the owner’s most valuable possessions are located.

Storage areas may hold photo albums and dressers and armoires may shelter jewelry boxes with family heirlooms. Sparse furniture in the dining room might be bypassed in an effort to concentrate on protecting the bulk of the furniture in the family room. A room filled with filing cabinets is likely to contain important personal records (or commercial records if a business). Firefighters can place salvage covers over furniture in an effort to help save as much property as possible. Dealing with the aftermath of a fire is a nightmare for residents. Helping people save some of their belongings from fire, smoke or water damage is usually at least a small comfort, and, in some cases, recovering deeply personal mementos or critical property can be a deeply emotional experience.

Performing overhaul

Overhaul is a critical operation because, when done properly, it ensures that the fire is completely extinguished and any latent heat is insufficient to permit reignition of nearby materials. Because TIs show heat, and overhaul is a search for hidden heat, TIs are perfect overhaul tools. During the early years of TI usage in the fire service, many fire departments would typically only take the TI off the rig for overhaul activities. Thankfully, most departments now use TIs for other applications, but there are reasons why overhaul is a particularly logical and desirable use for thermal imaging. Simply put, using a TI for overhaul can speed the process dramatically while improving its effectiveness.

Successful TI use in overhaul requires the user to understand how a thermal imager displays varying levels of heat. Different models of thermal imagers have unique methods of displaying heat and the first thing firefighters should do is familiarize themselves with what they can expect to see in these types of conditions before they encounter the real thing. The best way to simulate this is during live-burn training exercises by examining heat signatures in a burn room just after extinguishment.

After the fire is knocked down, everything in the room will be very warm or hot. Generally speaking, TIs will display such scenes as mostly white or light gray on the display. Still, an area or object may show as white on the TI display because it is relatively hot compared to other objects, but not because it is absolutely hot. By using a known point of comparison, such as a firefighter’s hand, the TI user can see if the hot spot in question is warm enough to deserve extra consideration.

If your TI has certain color overlays that highlight hot spots, target those colorized areas in your overhaul efforts. Some TIs even have manual controls that enable users to “dial in” on the absolute hottest spots in a scene. These additional controls are particularly helpful in overhaul as they can quickly isolate potential trouble spots. A standard black-and-white TI may not provide this distinction. While the complexity of manual controls can be a disservice for fire attack, these features enable more precision in the controlled environment of overhaul. Therefore, if your TI provides color overlays or other manual hot spot indicators, this is the time to utilize them.

Firefighters should be aware that technology is not a replacement for old-fashioned hard work. There will be times during overhaul when a TI cannot detect a hidden heat source, such as when the heat is behind a thick or well-insulated wall. If the structure you’re investigating causes you to wonder about the results you are seeing from the TI, get confirmation through traditional overhaul techniques.

Conclusion

By properly using a TI in the early stages of an incident, fire departments can initiate the salvage process earlier and more effectively. This can help save fire victims not only the monetary loss associated with smoke and water damage, but also the emotional loss experienced when irreplaceable items are destroyed.

Firefighters need to remember that their TI is an effective tool for their overhaul and salvage efforts. Proper TI usage will help make the salvage and overhaul processes faster, easier and more effective.