Police and Fire Foundation donates thermal imagers, training door and drone; council accepts

The Bellaire City Council voted unanimously March 17 to accept three donated items from the Bellaire Police and Fire Foundation: thermal imaging cameras, a forcible-entry training door and a first-responder drone, Fire Chief Deacon Tiller and Dan Collins of the foundation told the council.

Tiller said the thermal imagers will help firefighters locate hidden fires and victims in smoky or hazardous conditions and be useful on hazardous-material incidents. The forcible-entry training door is a reusable prop intended to allow firefighters to practice entry techniques without causing expensive damage to private property. Tiller said the force-entry door will enable ongoing in-house training "365 days a year."

Police representatives described a rooftop drone deployable from the police station to give officers and incident commanders fast aerial views of burglary-in-progress calls or other incidents; the drone can arrive on scene faster than a patrol car and provide early situational awareness, the chief said.

Dan Collins, secretary of the Bellaire Police and Fire Foundation, said the foundation has awarded 38 grants totaling just over $1.3 million since its founding. He presented a check for the three grants totaling $85,760, and the council thanked the foundation and department staff for the donation and the departments' response work at a recent fire.

Motion and vote: Council member Lewis moved to accept the resolution to accept the donations; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Why it matters: donated equipment provides police and fire personnel additional tools and training resources the city's operating budget might not immediately cover, and the drone was cited by firefighters as having helped identify the location of smoke at a recent structure fire.

Votes at a glance: Resolution accepting equipment donations from the Bellaire Police and Fire Foundation — outcome: approved unanimously.