JFRD will get 80 new thermal imaging cameras to detect heat signatures from fire sources and victims.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Lifesaving technology will be making its way onto firetrucks in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville City Council officially approved funding for thermal-imaging technology for the fire department on Tuesday.

“Growing up as a kid watching movies, you always think when you’re in a house fire, you can see everything,” Jacksonville Fire Rescue Chief Percy Golden II said. “It’s not that way in real life.”

Golden learned along the way during his career that firefighting involves more than just seeing flames and victims.

“There’s little to no visibility when you’re moving through a structure,” said Golden. “You have to use your senses, feel the heat.”

 The Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department is adding a new sense of sorts to their arsenal — thermal-imaging cameras, or TICs.

“If you’re in a house fire, and you’re having a hard time finding where the seat of that fire is, this is a great tool,” Golden said. “If you’re doing search and rescue for victims and trying to find victims in a house fire, away from the fire, this is a great tool as well.”

The Jacksonville City Council approved $850,000 to pay for 80 TICs, plus some kits for firefighter self-rescue in an emergency.

Chief Golden says thermal-imaging cameras can be used for heat detection in both wildfires and structure fires.

“The more intense heat is, most of the time, where the seat of the fire is,” said Golden. “So I can identify where that is and get water on that quickly.”

Golden says the fire department has spent the past seven years gradually updating its thermal tech from the outdated equipment they have, but now they’ll be able to do it in one fell swoop to make sure every crew is equipped with a new third eye.

“We have portable radios and SCBAs to help us breathe in fires, which is a huge safety feature, and I put this on the same level as that,” said Golden.

Now that the money has been set aside, they can actually go about buying the new equipment technology.

Once they’ve done that, they’re going to keep looking at other forms of new tech; the chief says the next thing they’re looking at is artificial intelligence.