KCBA - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News Weather-Watsonville Fire Department Gets a Special Set Of Eyes
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Out Of all of the tools a fire department has, an axe maybe, fire retardant, protective clothing, one tool stands above all, and the Watsonville Fire Department I guess you could say has the bragging rights. A tool that sheds some light on things.
"Yesterday we got dispatched for an unconfirmed structure fire at an apartment complex," says Fernando Tapiz, Watsonville Fire Captain.
With a thermal camera at hand Watsonville entered the dark room.
"What we used this to concentrate on the body heat of that one person."
As he demonstrated with an older model, the camera uses infrared technology to thermally enhance hot spots, hot spots which can help save lives.
"I would say It's kind of similar to having a slotted screw driver and have someone hands you a Phillips screwdriver, and says look what this can do," says fire Chief Mark Bisbee.
He says what once was a luxury has now become a necessity, and that necessity is now met with a $6,400 dollar grant from the Firemen's fund insurance.
The Watsonville fire department is such a critical part of this community," says William Hansen, President of Hansen insurance, who is affiliated with Fireman's fund. "We're in the business of providing protection for our customers so if we can support an organization as fine as the Watsonville Fire Department then we're all in."
Since 2004, the Fireman's fund insurance has issued grants to more than 1,400 different fire departments totaling more than $23 million dollars.
