Lake Zurich firefighters to be honored for saving life

A 61-year-old woman was lost in a marshy area behind the old K-mart in Lake Zurich. Sundown was nearing on the cold December day, and the woman had already been missing for close to two hours.

Using a thermal imaging camera, Lake Zurich Fire Lt. Phil Cappitelli and firefighters Scott Nemeth and Greg Brendle found the woman. She was taken to the hospital and treated for mild hypothermia.

Bullard, the company that makes the cameras, will induct the three firefighters into their Save-A-Life club during a Lake Zurich village board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.

Police had been looking for the woman with a search dog, but had no luck. The fire department used its T3MAX thermal imager to scope out the woman's location.

"They went to the highest point they could," said Deborah Puracchio, public relations specialist for Bullard. "They saw a little blip that looked like it could be a person."

That blip led the firefighters through the marsh to the missing woman.

Thermal imaging cameras form a picture based on heat, which could be produced by fire or body heat.

"We use these on every call now," Fire Chief Terry Mastandrea said.

The department has been using the cameras for about five years, he added. They can show heat through walls, thick smoke or, in this case, marshy terrain.

"For (these firefighters) to use a tool as it was planned for, and to think about it in these situations, and to have the village support it makes me feel like we've done our job," Mastandrea said.

The village board purchased the T3MAX thermal imager for the fire department about two years ago.

Lake Zurich will be the 68th fire department in the nation to receive this award from the company.