Firefighters may no longer have to 'feel around in the dark' during rescues with new tech
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Firefighters could soon be seeing with an upgrade. C-Thru, developed by Qwake Technologies, helps firefighters see inside burning buildings using infrared cameras.
“When a firefighter goes into a structure, and they hear the screams of a baby that’s somewhere in the back room that they’re trying to save from the flames,” said Sam Cossman, CEO of Qwake Technologies. “They literally are trained to close their eyes, heighten their sense of hearing and feel around in the dark with their hands.”
“There are times when our crews are basically going in blind, having to use zero visibility search techniques to go and search a room for any victims,” said Mark Bridges, Division Chief with Austin Fire Department.
Cossman developed C-Thru after he turned to firefighter tech while leading expeditions inside volcanoes.
“We had to go deep inside these active volcanos where there was a lot of lava flowing and install sensors,” Cossman said. “(We had to deal with) very dense volcanic gases, superheated gases, where it was very difficult to see.”
The team worked with fire departments and firefighters to design the device.
“If we were going to build something like this that had the potential to really transform how fires were fought. We had to do this with firefighters,” Cossman said.
Seeing through the smoke
Here’s how it works. The device attaches to a firefighter’s helmet using adapters. In the back, a battery for power, while in the front is a small computer, a camera and a glass lens.
The images captured by the infrared camera are projected on the lens. The lens can be flipped up or down, depending on the needs of the firefighter. The camera detects people by detecting differences in temperature. In a hot environment, a cold human would be highlighted, for instance.
The system also has different modes. It can show just the outline of people or their heat map. It also has a navigation mode that can guide a firefighter back to the entrance they used to enter a structure and a mayday mode to alert people on the ground.
The camera also beams back its footage to a monitor that a fire chief can use from the truck. This gives crews outside a building a better understanding of what’s happening inside.
There are limitations. Because C-Thru uses infrared, it can not see through windows or glass. During our demonstration, a glance at the window reflected our own heat back to camera.
The need for an upgrade
Cossman saw a need for new technology. He found that most firefighters use technology that’s decades old. “They have these old school thermal imaging devices that came from the military and and we’ve kind of taken that to the next level.”
Bridges said the older devices need to be held. The new technology would free them up. “It’s one less thing that occupies a firefighter’s hand or an officer’s hand when they’re trying to move through a building and do all the stuff they have to do,” Bridges said.
Qwake Technologies is working with the Department of Homeland Security to test out the device in a real-world environment. 80 fire departments across the country will receive the device to test out. Austin Fire Department and Round Rock Fire Department are both part of this program.
So far, ten of the eighty departments have gotten the technology. Each C-Thru costs about $8,500, which Cossman said is less than the current generation of walkie-talkies used by many departments. The devices are not currently for sale.
“It is the first iPhone for the fire industry. Like this is a watershed moment,” Cossman said.
