Collins firefighters welcomed a new member, but this one won't have to be fitted for the proper turnout gear.
Despite being able to enter spaces inaccessible to the crew, gear and an air pack won't be necessary because Thermite doesn't need it.
The remote-controlled robot was purchased with a $260,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Homeland Security, WHLT reported.
“In an industrial firefighting situation, you’re dealing with a lot of additional variables. So with us having this, to be able to operate the unit remotely, to be able to deploy water foam up safely, to be able to get a capture on possible valves that are pressurized, to be able to suppress fires in depth, and be able to get foam on top of that to suppress vapors, allowing us to move other equipment closer and safer, usually utilizing manpower, that’s what this does,” said Collins Fire Chief John Pope.
Thermite can deploy water, foam, and other suppressant agents to extinguish fires while also recording real-time video.
Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell told the media: “If you look at the critical assets here in Collins, particularly with the pipeline that comes through here and supplies oil and gas products throughout the eastern part of the United States, it is a critical asset not just for Mississippi, but our entire country."
