By ANNMARIE CORNEJO   
San Luis Obispo Tribune

More fire stations in San Luis Obispo County are gaining a new tool that has the potential of saving lives.

Thermal imaging cameras - used to detect heat sources that would otherwise not be visible - will soon be used in Oceano, Los Osos and Grover Beach.

They are already being used by firefighters everywhere else in the county.

The Oceano Fire Department expects to receive the $14,000 device today.

Oceano fire Capt. John Bova said the thermal camera will be used to find hot spots in burned structures and to find people in burning buildings.

"The image is definitely clear enough to identify if a child is hiding under a bed," Bova noted.

The camera weighs about 5 pounds and provides an outlined image of an object. It doesn't show detailed features, Bova said.

The thermal imaging camera can also be used at accident scenes to determine if a person was ejected from a car by detecting recent body heat in the seats of cars.

Oceano also uses a similar tool called a heat gun to detect invisible hot spots.

The camera has more features, such as the ability to take photographs of the detected images, which can be used to record specific situations and as documents in reports.

Oceano bought its thermal camera with a federal Homeland Security Grant, which also paid for Bova to travel to Washington, D.C., for training.

He will start training the remaining 16 full- and part-time firefighters next week.

A similar grant paid for Grover Beach fire Capt. Mark Searby to attend the training.

The Los Osos station of CDF/County Fire bought its thermal camera with a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant.