FIRE, if harnessed or controlled has brought great benefit to mankind. However, a structure fire, in a home, a business premise or otherwise, is the one single event that brings with it devastating results to those directly affected. Anything an individual, business, or government can do to quicken the control of this potentially crushing event has got to have a significant positive effect on those directly affected.

Thank God, my family or my businesses have never, and I pray will never experience, a fire.  If we do, I hope the volunteer firefighters, who I have great respect for, have at their immediate disposal,   the best fire fighting equipment available. 

  I cannot imagine the devastation felt by that family who immediately thereafter, did not have a plate for supper, fresh clothes for work/school and a bed in which to rest and gather their thoughts about their immediate future. 

As a parent, I would dread hearing of a Fire Officer having to inform a mother, father or some other close family member that—they were unable to save their child, their mother, their father, their brothers and/or their sisters life(s), due to the fact that they could not locate their loved ones in the smoke-filled building. 

Presently, our firefighters must enter a burning building, virtually blind in many ways, in fact, crawling on his hands and knees consuming valuable time. They are not certain where the heart of the fire is located; what may be one inch ahead of them; one inch to their sides and in fact, after entering this “black hole” for some few minutes and possibly disorientated to their surroundings, they may not be positive as to what may be behind them.  There could be a basement entryway in the floor, a wall, a piece of furniture, a businesses safe, filing cabinet or computer’s CPU (containing irreplaceable business records) or it could be a small child lying just to their side, but the firefighter cannot see, loosing valuable time in their life saving efforts. The camera provides the visibility that can reduce their time by 75%

I recently was invited by Chief McCoy and the firefighters to attend a demonstration, of a basic model of a Thermal Imaging Camera, in a controlled smoke filled enclosure.  The demonstration was an eye-opener, to say the least.  I was amazed with the visibility the camera provides in this smoke filled environment and now understand the benefits of such a piece of fire-fighting equipment. The firefighters, with this Camera, can quickly survey their surroundings inside the building, locate the source of the fire, search for any occupant(s) or family pet(s) and quickly extricate them from this dark, hot and smoke filled “hell-hole”.

My family, my business, and I personally fully support the Volunteer Fire Department’s fund-raising campaign called “Images For Life.”  The aim is to purchase a life and property saving piece of equipment called a Thermal Imaging Camera. My wish is that the Volunteer Fire Department never has the need to use it BUT, it would be nice to know the equipment is there, if needed. 

I strongly encourage other community businesses and individuals to show their support for their local Volunteer Fire Department, in a concrete manner, with their donations, however small, to this campaign.  If the ladies and gentlemen of the Grand Bay - Westfield Volunteer Fire Department, can volunteer their valuable time to protect our homes and businesses, the least we, the ordinary citizens can do, is voluntarily provide them with the funds to make their job more safe and productive.

On behalf of my wife Louisa, my sons Chris and Peter, my daughter Deanna and their children and my grandchildren Erik and Caylee, I have presented to Chief McCoy a contribution to the campaign, to demonstrate our commitment to the project and our support for the Chief and all the firefighters in their fund-raising efforts.  We trust this donation will be an incentive to others to financially assist this worthwhile campaign and hope a Thermal Imaging Camera will be at our Volunteer Fire Departments disposal, in the not too distant future. 

I thank you for allowing me to take some of your valuable time to read this unsolicited open letter and permit me, a 27+ year citizen of this great community, to voice his humble opinion on the current fund raising campaign called Images for Life, in order to purchase a life and property saving piece of fire fighting equipment called a Thermal Imaging Camera.

Thank you again.

Murray D. MacLean, DBA, FCGA

Grand Bay-Westfield, NB
757-8652

Tuesday, May 11, 2004