Use of Thermal Image Camera

Hello,
My department just bought a Thermal Image Camera with an outside reviever unit. It's a FireFLIR® FF131.
I'm looking for some answers on the following questions :
- What can it be used for.
- When to use it.
- 2 men crew or 3 men crew.
- got any tips or trick on the use of a Thermal Image Camera.

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Permalink Reply by Oldman on August 22, 2008 at 7:26pm

Train with it often. Learn what the different shades of grays or colors indicate.

Another good use for a TIC is in HazMat situations. They are excellent for determining how much liquid is still in a tank or container, and it can show invisible vapor clouds.

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Permalink Reply by arthur burnes on August 22, 2008 at 8:38pm

as long as it has a shoulder strap a 2 man crew your back up man can tell you where to am your stream, also a human form will show up darker in a hot room so you can use it for search and rescue

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Permalink Reply by T.J. on August 24, 2008 at 2:08am

you'll love it once you find out all that it can be used for, chimney fires, attic fires, search and rescue for sure, we've even used it to find a body in a swamp in the dark, train with it a lot and it;ll become your new best friend:)

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Permalink Reply by roy yoder on August 24, 2008 at 3:51pm

it is my greatest concern that you train the basics first and often because a tic can go bad and leave you in a bad situation. after that i think that they are awesome. as mentioned before lp tank levels hot spots personnel ect. the one thing i llike about yours is that you mount this to your helment brim and your hands are free right? the fireflir is great product but we don't have the money for that one. we are getting a scott 160 with color and black and white and the transmitt and recieve unit for 8600. its a special so tell me if any one needs info. but once again tic's are a great asset to the fd. but train!

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Permalink Reply by BFC Ekellop on August 24, 2008 at 4:19pm

Hello Roy, the model we have is handheld, so there is no hands free for he who has to carry it. You have to look at the screen you have to hold in front of you, and I read in the manual that this will put the user in extra danger because your in depht vision is gone this way. Your angle of view, normally 180° is also reduced to 60°, therefore you have to move the camera side ways when you use it to advance.
We have a live burn training at the burn building of the state fire college next month, and i plan to put the crews thru a very slowly build up scenario, so they can get some experience of using it in burn situations. Thanks all for the advice, but keep the info coming, we can all learn from it.

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Permalink Reply by roy yoder on August 24, 2008 at 6:37pm

sorry about the mistake of helment mounted but still the tic is a great asset to your dept. you will find a lot in the burn building in using it. yes the 60 degree vision is right but when you are in a see nothing room from smoke it is like you can see the world. ours shows the temp drop when water is applied very well and helps teach fire behavior. i have found that you have to get used to the shades of white to black a little but like the black and white better than the color models. not as confusing as to what is hotter by color. one thing about the tic it don't do windows or glass be dareful with that.

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Permalink Reply by mike on November 4, 2008 at 11:59am

my department usesing the tic on both fire and mva calls. we have also used it in a missing persons call to. they come in great use. as for the number of men for the crew i guess that depends on your department. And as for tips, practice with it on your training nights. i dont know where your located but wut we have done is have a person hide out in a field and waited then we use the tic to try and locate that person. but just practice with it and get to know all the functions of the camera itself.