Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

But, sometimes that fire isn’t visible to the naked eye.

That’s when it’s handy to have a thermal imaging camera, especially if you’re a firefighter.

Thanks to the Four County Community Foundation, the Addison Township Fire Department now has two of them.

The Almont-based nonprofit organization awarded the department a $6,959 grant to purchase a second camera that’s more technologically up-to-date than its other one.

Fire Chief Jerry Morawski is grateful because this device will enable his personnel to locate the seat of structure fires quicker than they could otherwise. A faster, more direct attack on the seat of a fire can reduce the amount of property loss, he explained.

A thermal imaging camera detects the heat given off by burning objects and living things, then uses it to produce images of them.

Morawski said the camera comes in handy when firefighters are engaged in overhaul, the process of searching a scene for hidden fire. This entails checking to see if the fire has extended into any concealed spaces within a structure, including ceilings, walls, partitions and voids.

“We want to make sure the fire is out, so it doesn’t spread again when we leave,” Morawski said. “(With this camera), we can (look) inside all the nooks, crannies and crevices where the fire might still be smoldering and make sure there are no hotspots.”

The camera can also be used in search and rescue operations to help find victims or firefighters trapped inside burning structures or locate missing children or adults in areas that are heavily wooded.

This is the fifth grant that the Addison Township Fire Department has received from the Four County Community Foundation since 2013. It has now awarded the department a total of $29,626.

Morawski said these grants are “crucial” because they have allowed Addison to acquire “necessary” equipment sooner rather than later.

“We would have been able to purchase some of (these items by now), but it would have taken us a lot longer (to budget for them),” he said.