Infra-red (IR) camera monitors currently used by firefighters require lenses that can be blinded by intense fire, said researcher Pietro Ferraro, of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica in Italy.

BBC: fire fighting

"IR cameras cannot 'see' objects or humans behind flames because of the need for a zoom lens that concentrates the rays on the sensor to form the image, " says Pietro Ferraro of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica in Italy.

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