Past Stories

Past Stories

Past Stories

West Knox Receives a Grant for a Thermal Imaging Camera

Have you ever been lost in the dark and wish you could see where you were going. Well because of a grant from the Kentucky Fire Commission, We Can!

A thermal imaging camera will let us see in pitch black. It uses the temperature of things to let us see. As you can see in the picture below, a firefighter kneels before going through a doorway. The red, orange and yellow show the differences in the temperature. Next to the firefighters head you can barely make out the crosshairs of the camera. Where you point those crosshairs, the temperature meter tells you how hot it is. As you can see, it's 536° in the lower part of the room.

When we enter a house to search for someone who may still be inside, it's frustrating and time consuming trying to feel your way around in the dark. Plus you add in the anxiety of wanting to save someone as fast as you can. This camera changes the whole ballgame and turns things in our favor.

In late 2013 we applied with the Kentucky Fire Commission to receive a 50/50 grant to purchase a camera. The cost of the camera was $6,000.00. We paid $2,800.00 and the Fire Commission paid $3,200.00. What a small price for such a huge benefit!

Would you like to see how it works? Come by the station any Monday night and we will show you.

Thanks to the Kentucky Fire Commission for making this possible for us to afford!!

The Day Our Worst Nightmares Became Real

		It was a beautiful Saturday morning in March. Most people were just getting their day started. Shortly after 9:00am we were dispatched to a single family dwelling that was on fire. We were advised that there was no one in the residence. Our first unit arrived on scene within minutes. He was told by bystanders, they didn't think anyone was home. There were no cars in the drive and no real signs that anyone was home. When the first in truck arrived, firefighters suited up with breathing apparatus and began to make entry. Within a minute of entry the nightmare began. Details of the whole event are way to hard to put on here. After firefighters were done, they had brought out five children (3 yrs & under), one adult male and one adult female that was pregnant. None of which had survived the fire. During the process of rescue and fighting the fire, it was clear that our firefighters were letting the days events take a toll on them. Frustration and anxiety were replaced by wanting to be with our own families. Not wanting to stay at the scene in this nightmare was overruled by not wanting to leave incase we could help the family in any way. Friends and neighbors poured in from all around the community. About two hours after the nightmare started, about 200 people filled the valley where we were.

We left the scene at a little after 3:00pm and returned to the station. Most of us sit around the station just talking about what had happened. We were all just trying to come to grips with such a horrible day.

A few days after the fire, we began to talk about what we might do that could make such a tragedy like this less likely to happen. We already go to school and talk with the kids about fire safety. We go to Lowe's and Wal-Mart when they have safety days. We try to be active in the public promoting fire safety. But somehow fire safety doesn't seem to stick in peoples minds.

So what are we to do about this? Well we do what we do best. We work harder and become more persistent about it. And we come up with a catchy new fire safety campaign that people can remember. And so we announce the birth of our "Give a Beep" fire safety campaign. Give a Beep will start very soon in our neighborhood and we will push others to jump on board. You can check it out at www.giveabeep.com. And remember, it's just now being developed. Starting a new campaign like this would be tough without having the support of some of those involved in the March 9th fire. We met with some of the family and told them what we would like to do. It was such a blessing to see their excitement for our ideas. We all know there is no positive that could come from the awful day. But to keep someone else from going through the same thing would mean the world to us and them.