 Pierre Fire Department Completes Fire Cam Drive (Pierre,
SD-February 27, 2003) – The Pierre Volunteer Fire Department today announced
that the fund drive for the two fire cameras has been completed. The
total cost of the cameras is approximately $27,000. In December 2002 the Pierre
Kiwanis Club set out to raise $20,000 to be combined with other funds that were
available. Today the donation that took the fund over $20,000 was received at
the Department’s Headquarters in downtown Pierre.
Pierre
Fire Chief Tam Gatje said, “We very much appreciate the efforts of the Kiwanis
Club members in their fund drive for these cameras. Without their help we would
not have been able to purchase these cameras nearly so soon. The fire cams will
immediately assist us in our efforts to protect the citizens of the Pierre
area.” Reverend Harold Grinager presents one of the final checks to purchase a fire cam for the Pierre Fire Department. The check represents a donation from the First United Methodist Church of Pierre. Shown (l to r) are Scott Carbonneau - Pierre Kiwanis Club, Harold Grinager - First United Methodist Church, Greg Baker- Pierre Kiwanis Club and Pierre Fire Department; and, Brenda Kleinjan - Pierre Kiwanis Club.
The
cameras allow firefighters to see through smoke and to find hot spots. This
allows them to perform quick rescues when vision would normally be obscured and,
when the fire is over, to find hot spots more easily. By finding these hot spots
in a process called “overhaul” the later re-kindling of a fire can be
reduced. The camera makes it possible to find those pockets of lingering fire
with a minimum of damage to the structure. The
first camera is physically small allowing firefighters to carry the camera into
the building on the first quick attack. This camera is stored on the ladder
truck that is usually at the front of the fire building. The second camera,
carried on the Rescue Truck, is larger but has more features. These include the
ability to measure the temperature of an object, not just detect that there are
temperature differences. The “Fire Cams” work by detecting infrared radiation rather than light and are able to “see” people and objects where light cannot penetrate smoke. They also detect differences in temperature in objects allowing firefighters to find problem areas. Pierre is the capitol city of South Dakota with a population of about 13,000 people
and operates entirely with a volunteer fire department. The department has
an ISO rating of 3, the same rating as Sioux Falls and Rapid City. |
Pierre
firefighter and Kiwanis Club member Greg Baker announced that the drive was very
successful. The funds will allow the Fire Department to purchase the second fire
camera to be carried on the city fire trucks. The first was purchased when the
fund reached $9,000. 