by Mark Colborn

In February of this year two snowmobilers ventured into the Little Belt Mountains of Montana and became lost. While trying to cross Alice Creek (which is actually a fair sized river), their machines fell through the ice and the men became stranded. Many agencies in the area, including the Civil Air Patrol and the United States Air Force became involved in an extensive search for the men. Jack Barr, a retired Montana police officer and now owner of National Thermal Imagery in Carson City, Nevada, volunteered his thermal imagery experience and equipment to aid in the search.
On the third day into the search, Jack devised a method to mount a Texas Instruments model P-100 thermal imager to a removed back window of the sliding rear door on an Air Force UH-1N (huey) helicopter. A lip mount similar to what is used on a drive-in movie theater speaker was bolted to the window frame. Since the UH-1N has a 28 volt power system, power to operate the imager was provided by a 12-volt garden battery. Within 45 minutes of leaving the ground in what could only be described as marginal flying conditions due to heavy snowfall, Jack spotted a heat signature on his monitor. Upon further investigation the crew discovered one man frantically waiving at the helicopter while his partner remained motionless under a tree with a severe case of hypothermia. Both men had severe frostbite requiring medical attention.
In December of last year, Jack is credited with finding a Piper Super Cub aircraft that had been missing for a week. Aiming an Agema 550 thermal imager out an open backseat window in a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182, the plane was discovered at dusk, 20 miles from Cohagen, Montana. Unfortunately the two men on board, ranchers from Jordan, Montana, had not survived. The plane was white in color and one pilot interviewed by the Great Falls Tribune told reporters their efforts were hampered because every little snow patch looked like an airplane. According to news accounts, at the height of the search 32 airplanes were involved and efforts had been scaled back because the area had been searched numerous times without success.
At one point in the search for the missing plane, Jack noticed a large hot spot in a remote area. The crew called in the Global Positioning System coordinates and searchers on the ground converged on the area. To everyone’s surprise, a cattle rustler was caught in the act of trying to burn the hides of cattle he had illegally rustled and butchered.
Since Jack started his business, National Thermal Imagery Inc., in July of 1996, he has been called upon by several agencies for thermal imaging advice, and has been placed on standby to aid in search and rescue incidents from Montana to California. NTI also has branch offices in Spain and Greece.
Since the Montana rescue, Jack has developed a universal mount system for aircraft which allows quick and easy mounting of a thermal camera on numerous aircraft. The mount is currently being tested in Alaska and by the Canadian Ministry during the fire-fighting season. Although Jack is now retired from law enforcement and operating in the private sector, he states that public safety and law enforcement come first and that he will make himself available to aid or assist whenever possible. Jack is looking forward to attending the Advanced and Instructor Courses at the L.E.T.A. 2nd Annual Conference and Exposition at South Lake Tahoe, September 23-25, and becoming a L.E.T.A. instructor. Jack currently has five Certificates of Completion in thermal imaging from the Academy of Infrared Thermography, Agema Infrared Systems Ltd., FLIR Systems Inc. and L.E.T.A. Jack can be reached at 702-882-1629.