Anyone who has ever fought a wildland fire knows situational

awareness is critical to safety and effectiveness on the fireground.

But visibility, a key part of that awareness, is often limited by thick smoke in the wildland fire environment.

Call it the fog of war, if you like.

No matter what you call it, it’s tough to fight a fire when you can’t see through the smoke.

That lack of visibility can lead to all kinds of trouble—especially vehicle accidents.

Today, in this special edition of Code 3, we’ll explore one commercial product that can make the wildland environment safer for firefighters.

It’s called Hypersight, built by RPX Technologies. It’s a tough, vehicle-mounted thermal imaging camera. It allows the crew in the cab to see through smoke as they drive.

But it can show more than that, and as you’ll hear, it also has applications in urban firefighting settings.

And joining me is Stan Cannata, to explain how the HyperSight system gives fire crews an advantage in dangerous situations.