Wight and his group had only been waiting a few minutes when the Mayor's limo arrived. He noted the somber looks on their faces as they emerged from the limo and inwardly smiled. 'They're hooked. Now I just gotta reel 'em in.'
"Gentlemen." Wight greeted with a smile. "As I said earlier, we're going to discuss the GPS and body cams along with the SCBAs and fire shelters," Wight began. "As Chief Shamrock can attest to, a building on fire doesn't have landmarks. If a team is in trouble, the best they can do is radio what floor they're on. And, if they haven't lost track of their bearings, a compass direction of north or whatever or at least an indication of what part of the building they're in."
Wight grinned. "You may have noticed Jack isn't with us. He's in the administration building wearing a body cam with our modified GPS." He indicated the open laptop sitting on the hood of their SUV. "Cameron?"
"This little baby is the heart of the system," Cameron explained as Shamrock stood next to him. "On your way to your call, simply put in the address. The computer will download the same blueprints you would get from City Hall. Only a lot faster. The satellite driven GPS will then pinpoint the location of everyone in the burning building by the designation of their initials as long as the GPS unit is functioning. In this case, JP for Jack Perry. And you'll see it in 3D. For this demonstration and the next, the body cam is off. While these babies are pretty rugged, it's possible that in a struggle, it could become disabled. The GPS is part of the body cam but is pretty well protected."
Shamrock slowly nodded.
Cameron held out a small body cam and GPS unit. "It's roughly 3 inches square and three-quarter inches in depth. It comes with straps to hook onto their uniforms that will be protected by your jackets. Now, in this case, your administration building is the valid address for this facility."
Shamrock and Malenko closely watched as Cameron logged into the computer then typed in the address. Within seconds, a 3D diagram of the administration building appeared on the screen. Seconds later, a small red dot appeared with the letters JP in the center of the dot.
When Cameron looked at Shamrock, the fire Chief nodded. "Looks like he's in the front shop where we have memorabilia displayed and small items for sale."
Wight pulled out his cell phone and pressed numbers on the keypad. Then he activated the speaker.
"Sure. Email me any time," Jack was saying.
"Maybe I will," a young female voice flirtatiously replied.
Layla rolled her eyes while Dante and Cameron snickered. Cole bit his lip to keep from laughing. Wight heaved the sigh of a long-suffering parent. "Jack," Wight calmly spoke.
"Oh…hi. Demonstration over?"
"Where are you?" Wight asked.
"Gift shop…or museum…"
"Yes, the demonstration is over," Wight answered. "We need you back out here."
"On my way," Jack promised.
Wight replaced his phone in his pocket and shrugged. "He's young."
Cameron turned to Shamrock. "You mentioned sending some of your people out west to help with forest fires." When Shamrock nodded, he continued, "Jack's gonna play a game of hide-and-seek in your park down the road, and I'll show you how the GPS can help find firefighters who may be in danger of being surrounded by the fire or even trapped. I mean, there aren't any street signs or landmarks in that case. A compass will get rescuers started in the right direction but not much more." He looked up as Jack joined them. "Ready?"
Jack grinned. "Just say the word," he nodded.
"Start runnin'," Cameron grinned.
Jack sketched a quick two-finger salute and jogged away.
"While he's doin' that, let's talk about the fire shelters," Cameron began. "They're rated to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. The Forest Service simulator created temperatures over 1800 degrees…in controlled circumstances." As he spoke, he opened a tub and pulled out two cylindric packages and handed them to Shamrock. "As you know, forest fires are unpredictable. You can be in a fire shelter as the fire rolls over you. It passes, and you come out. But the wind can suddenly change and be coming back to you."
As Shamrock opened one of the blue cylinders, Cameron continued, "The new generation is a green plastic material. The practice shelters are in orange cases. We've been working with the Forest Service in testing a new coating for the shelters that will reflect heat more efficiently. Shelters in use can reflect approximately 95% of the heat. That means the interior of the shelter won't see a rise in heat nearly as fast, making it easier for someone to breathe while sheltering. Our tests have shown a reflection of approximately 97% at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. We've had some success with a survival rate at almost 1900 degrees with 94% reflection."
"The firefighters at Green Mountain died because the temperatures reached 2000 degrees," Shamrock mused.
Wight nodded. "Our goal is to hit 2000 degrees with 95% reflection. Keep those for your own testing. Cameron can give you the scientific reports of our testing." He heard Layla sigh and inwardly grinned.
"Now, the SCBA's." He helped Layla and Dante remove units from another tub. "First, you'll see it's lighter in weight than what you're used to using." Cameron handed Shamrock one of the SCBA's.
"Again, thank NASA," Wight added. "They're very weight-conscious as to their payloads so they developed a lighter-weight metal for their use. Once it came onto the market, Cameron's department started experimenting with how to develop it for fire rescues as well as underwater rescue and salvage."
"Open circuit?" Shamrock asked.
Cameron nodded. "The ones you're using are probably rated for 30 to 60 minutes of air. Because of our design and construction, ours is rated for 60 to 90 minutes of air. However, we strongly recommend that, when reaching the 60 minute mark, you rotate your people. Give yourself that 30 minute margin of error or if they get cut off."
"Doable in a burning building," Shamrock nodded. "Might not be possible in a forest fire."
Cameron somberly nodded. "The best solution we have at this point is more manpower for the rotations. In addition to the longer air time, these SCBAs weigh 10 to 15 kgs. Yours would be 15 to 18 kgs. Carrying lighter weight means you don't breathe as heavily, thus conserving your air."
Wight glanced at his watch. "Jack should be in place or close to it."
Cameron motioned Shamrock's attention to the laptop. "If you noticed, when I turned this on, a menu popped up with a choice of inside or outside. I chose inside because that's where Jack was at the time." He clicked on the link for outside. "In the case of forest firefighting…well, and possible, building or home fires…you can set the GPS tracking designations to teams." He glanced at Malenko, who was at Shamrock's shoulder peering at the screen.
"Captain Malenko, this would also be of value to you if one of your officers was on a foot chase, became injured or unconscious, and couldn't relay information as to his location." Cameron clicked on the link for 'JP'. "Satellite information being accessed and…we have his location complete with coordinates. Now we get a 3D image."
They peered at the screen, but didn't see Jack. "Where is he?" Cole asked.
"I bet he climbed a tree," Dante grinned.
"Brat's trying to beat the system. I'll give him that," Cameron nodded. "Now, in this case, click on the link marked 'elevation'." He grinned at the message that flashed onto the screen. "He climbed up 10 feet."
Wight took out his phone and dialed Jack's number and put the call on speaker.
"Hello," Jack whispered.
Wight chuckled. "No need to whisper. We have your coordinates, and you're 10 feet up in a tree."
"Prove it," Jack challenged.
Cameron provided the coordinates, and Jack whooped with laughter. "Nailed me."
Seconds later, they saw Jack jump to the ground. "See you in a few."
"Now, the first thing you're thinking is that we got here before you and possibly scouted out places for Jack to hide," Wight spoke.
"Just what I was thinking," Malenko admitted.
"As you should," Wight agreed. "So, we're leaving this equipment with you as well as a couple of our latest technology of body cams. They work in conjunction with the GPS system. Run your own field tests." He ignored the quiet grunt from Layla.
As Jack came jogging up to them, Brodie looked surprised. "He got here rather quickly."
Dante grinned. "We're both 10K Marathon runners."
"I'm sure, Mayor Lee, you and your group have a lot to discuss," Wight said. "How about we take a break, and we all grab lunch. We can meet at, say 2:30? Your office?"
Brodie glanced at the others and the nodded. "You're right. We do have a lot to discuss."
As they walked back to the limo, Malenko felt his phone vibrate and stopped. "I'll be just a minute," he said as he pulled the phone from his pocket and answered the call. "Malenko."
"Sorry to disturb you, but you received a flash drive in the mail. There's no return address on the box. Should I send it to IT for investigation?"
Malenko half-smiled at his admin assistant's hesitant question. She was very clear about keeping work and private lives separate. "Yes," he answered. "I'm not expecting any flash drives. Ask IT to put a rush on it." He wasn't surprised when his admin assistant terminated the call. She didn't waste time on chit-chatting any more than he did.