The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. selected 11 fire departments to receive thermal imagers and other equipment from the Into the Fire grant program.

The winners were chosen from more than 1,249 proposals. Each camera is valued at approximately $10,000, and the combined value of all grants is more than $90,000.

“The pure number of applications to this grant program show how desperate local fire departments are to get new thermal imagers,” said NFFF Executive Director Ron Siarnicki.

The grant program is funded by money raised from DVD sales, t-shirt sales, screening events, and other fund-raising related to the Into the Fire documentary.

The recipients of thermal imagers are:

• Henderson (N.C.) Fire Department;
• Cresson (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Department;
• Rolling Oaks Volunteer Fire Department, Wills Point, Texas;
• Crystal Fire Company No. 1, German, Pa.,
• Houston (Mo.) Rural Fire Association;
• Cutler Volunteer Fire Company, Camp Douglas, Wis.; and
• Saluda County (S.C.) Fire Service.

Other equipment awards were made, as well. The Lincoln (Ill.) Rural Fire Protection District received both a thermal imager and $1,475 for bail-out bags, while the Oolitic (Ind.) Volunteer Fire Department received $4,400 for mounting equipment. Clay (Ky.) Fire and Rescue received $2,210 for automatic external defibrillators. Finally, the Palmer Lake (Colo.) Volunteer Fire Department was awarded $2,650 for gas detectors.

Fireman's Fund donates $7 from each DVD purchased at www.firemansfund.com to the fire service. Purchasers can direct $5 of this donation to any local fire department. The remaining $2, or all $7 if no fire department is designated, goes into the fund.