On February 25, 2026, the Danbury Fire Department was honored by the Bullard Company for their operations at a rescue call in November of last year.

This is the description of the incident.

On November 29, 2025, Danbury Fire, Police, and EMS alerted to a serious motor vehicle accident at 4:55 AM.

Arriving on the scene, there was a severely damaged car that had struck a tree, clearly at high speed. While inspecting the wreckage and seeing there were no victims in the car, and the car sustaining such damage, Fire and Police Officers surmised that whoever was in the car, was most certainly injured. A quick call to the local hospital determined no one had arrived from an accident.

Seeing that it was 5:00 AM, in the dark, with the temperature at 33° and a missing victim with probable injuries, this dictated that a search of the area was warranted and time was of the essence. The crash occurred on sweeping hillside near the airport approach zone, within a large undeveloped area adjacent to a nearby highway. While the police began a search of area streets, the fire department organized their personnel on a line search across the expansive terrain.

One of the searchers was Captain Bart McCleary of Engine 26. On the job for 38 years, Captain McCleary is known for his fastidious problem solving ability and incredible search skills. As he hiked approximately 700 feet from the accident scene down the hillside, he noticed a heat target on his Bullard DXT Thermal Imaging Camera. Focusing on that target, the Thermal Imaging Camera’s technology showed it at a temperature of 95° in a background of 33°. Convinced he was viewing a human target, Captain McCleary, Lt Gabe Rivera, Lt Nick Cabral, and their crews walked to the target and found the injured and hypothermic victim in a line of brush. The crew packaged the injured and cold victim and transported to the trauma center, where the victim was expected to make a full recovery.

Incident Commander Deputy Chief Bernie Meehan related that had the victim not been located quickly with the Bullard Thermal Imaging Camera, the victim would not have likely not survived the event.

Mr. Brad Harvey, the Global Product Manager for Bullard, flew from their Headquarters in Kentucky to present the Danbury Firefighters with the award. Fire Chief Richard Thode, Assistant Chief William Lounsbury, City of Danbury Chief of Staff Taylor O’Brien, and Communications Advisor Jason Nova were also in attendance.