Sometimes high-tech gadgets can really pay off. Lt. Larry Grab of the Madison (Wis.) Fire Department reports that a Sprint cell-phone camera helped out at a recent incident in his area.

The Madison department received a call to a reported car fire on a local highway. Being a distance away, Madison and another engine from an equal distance away raced to the southeast corner of the district. As they approached a fireball could be seen in the air.

Grab immediately pulled out his cell-phone camera, took a picture of the burning vehicle and called administration downtown. He instructed them to look on the cellular service provider's photo Web site and see what they were dealing with on scene.

The incident turned out to be a tanker carrying 8,800 gallons of gasoline that traveled the off-ramp too fast. The truck was turned over and beneath a fireball in the sky. Headquarters immediately dispatched additional help, and the fire was extinguished with three handlines and Class B foam, as there weren't any hydrants in that part of town. The driver of the gasoline truck walked away with minor injuries.

Grab says he now wants to suggest to his department's chief to get a cell-phone camera for each of the rigs. He says it's ideal when first-arriving rigs need to call for backup. In the case of motor vehicle accidents, he says hospitals could receive confidential injury photos showing patients' position and mechanism of injury before they are moved. Grab says arson investigators could use the photos as evidence in cases of suspected arson.

Also, in the event of a malfunction in the radio system or a break in communication, there will at least be a cell phone for backup, with the capability of being able to provide confidential information without using a frequency.

“By using this kind of quick information-gathering technology, we can get information to the people who need to be making the decisions in a timely manner,” Grab said.