Prepare4 / Rescue

If our Nozzle takes thier corners wide and the Back up firefighters, feed the corners, we can use the building to your advantage as you navigate the structure. You can use the building to help absorb and manage your nozzle reaction along with generally giving you a better angle on the fire and fire compartment by taking the wider corners.

Easy tic drill #3
Get a metal and a wooden kitchen utensil and place a sticker or tape on one side of the utensils (preferably black)
Place the utensils in the fridge for a few hours to full cool down.
Show students the utensils in the fridge then remove them to a kitchen counter. Take note how they show on the screen. The metal utensil shows up "hotter" both of the countertop and the wooden utensil. Get students to touch the utensils and see they are clearly both cold. Take note the spot temperature readings showing you again the metal utensil as "hotter" then the wooden. Then flip the utensils over to the side with the tape. The tape now gives the same emmisivity on both objects and will likley show the metal is colder then the wood due to the metal retaining the cold from the fridge longer on the counter top, move off the sticker and the metal will still read "hotter". Then take the utensils and place them in the freezer and see how the once dark spoon "cold" shows up now white "hot".
This drill again renforces importance of understanding emisivity in fire spaces and spot temperatures not only being effected by it but also the colour scheme on the display. White does not mean hot on a tic but "hotter" as black does not mean "cold" simply colder, and all that is only if the emmisivity of everything in the field of view stands to be the same.
We can bring this in easily with the other two drills along with some theory material to really show the limitations of the tool so we can better understand it and use it most effectively. The tic provides us with extra information of our environment but its important to understand if that information is accurate and/or how it relates to the overall enviroment you are in. Like much the information we take in to make decisions in the fire ground very little is absolute in its own context but when all put together and understood we can then move to make more informed desicions.

Easy fire hall TIC drill #2
Bring a large pot of water to boil with an item in the bottom.
What it can show us;
1) Emmisivity, most fire hall TICs are set to give temperature readings at a 0.95. Water has an emmisivity of around 0.98 meaning you will see a fairly accurate temperature. Look to the outside of the pot and the spot temperature will be completely different, as the stainless steel emmisivity can be in a range of 0.07 to 0.88 depending on oxidation and condition.
2) Visual light will travel through water but IR will not. We can see the object in the bottom of the pot with our eye but not the thermal camera.
What does this mean on a call?;
1) Understanding different emmisivities, how they not only make our spot temperature inaccurate but can also change how the items displays on the screen in terms of the tics colour palette. Meaning we should not blindly rely on the temperature displayed or even the colour displayed on the screen, we still require looking at the whole picture and then piece together the information provided.
2) Thermal imagers can not see through water, this includes condensation. If you have to while condensation off your face piece there is a good chance you should off the tic lense as well. The condensation will limit clarity of image as it gathers on the lense.
3) Understand limitations in "cold smoke" when sprinklers are activated or after waters applied by the nozzle firefighter. Have patience after water application for condensation to clear.
4) If using a TIC in a search and rescue function in bodies of water understand only things above the surface may be visible.

Easy fire hall TIC drill #1;

What is this telling us?
TIC is not an x-ray machine! TIC works on turning infa-red surface temperatures into a visual on our display. Visual light may pass through this thin sheet showing us an outline of a person but infrared only reads the surface temperature of the sheet so it appears blank. Only once the sheet is heated up enough from the back side to change the surface temperature on the side of the sheet the TIC is on do we see anything is potentailly behind the sheet.

What does this mean for operations?
1) You can not scan a room with a tic from a doorway to complete a search! Tics can make a search faster and more accurate but we need to use the information properly so we can quickly guide our Firefighters to the areas they need to search and clear with thier hands. Investigate the cold spaces.
2) tics only read and see SURFACE temperatures. Know a patient under a thick blanket in a room will likley not show up on the TIC as the fire enviroment is likley heating up the outside the blanket more than a person under it ever could. We are searching in low thermal contrast environments, use the TIC to recognize cold spaces and the places to prioritize search and assign someone to then search it.
Be aware of TIC resolution and the distance in which you can accurately see something like a human hand even a 320x240 limited to around 14 feet with clear sight.
3) Again, only surface temperatures! When looking for hot spots or fire, understand even 1/2" drywall can easily be hiding true temperatures in the space. We aren't necessarily looking for high heat to indicate fire. Use the other information around you, smoke on arrival, smoke conditions inside in conjunction with your TIC to help identify fire locations. Focous more on irregularities in temperature on surfaces rather then the temperature itself. If its 100 degrees in the room with no visible flame and there is patchy spots of higher heat on the wall next too you that read 175 compare it to smoke conditions and situation there is likley a much hotter space the other side of that wall. (See UL basment floor collapse study to see TIC readings there on floor before collapse)