What's Happening in Encinitas, CA…

The newest fire station in Encinitas, located in the Olivenhain neighborhood, is slated to receive a thermal-imaging camera.

The camera is a donation that will allow firefighters to find people who have been rendered unconscious by smoke inside burning structures.

The camera costs $12,000 and was presented to the station on May 7, in a public ceremony held at Firehouse Subs, located in Weigand Plaza on El Camino Real. Firehouse Subs is the parent organization of a philanthropic group known as the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, and it was the foundation that asked Encinitas' fire officials what device they needed most. Mike Stein, the Deputy Fire Chief, said the department felt it really needed the camera.

The firefighters also knew precisely where it would go—to the Olivenhain station, which opened in 2012 and is the only station without such a device. Stein noted that the thermal-imaging cameras are becoming standard equipment in fire stations throughout California. The camera can sense people or hot spots inside smoke-filled rooms, allowing operations to proceed much more safely.

The Olivenhain station might consider working with brochure printers to create a mailer specifically for residents of that neighborhood, explaining how the device works and that, now the station has one, they will be even safer in the event of a fire.