NATCHEZ — Firefighters had finished extinguishing the fire that damaged Darby Short’s Main Street store in November 2014, when she decided to go back in one last time to make certain the fire was out.

“Dennis and I were walking back to where we live … and I said, ‘Let’s just go back and look one more time,’” said Short, who owns Darby’s with her husband, Dennis. “When we got in there, a little spark fell out of the ceiling, and we looked up, and it look like a big red hornet’s nest. It was what’s called a hot spot.”

As it turns out, two or three other hot spots were stirring in other areas of the building, and firefighters had to douse the entire building with water to ensure it would not catch fire again.

“Had we had thermal imaging cameras, they could have spotted the hot spots and pinpointed where the heavy water would have needed to be used, and not had to use it everywhere, which would have cut the time we were out of that building from a year to three or four months,” Short said.“The very next day, Lisa Jester’s house burned, and she barely got her kids out of her house. Dennis and I went out there … and I just said, ‘If the city cannot afford it, we’ve got to do this.’”

The Shorts kicked off a fundraising campaign with a $5,000 donation to buy the Natchez Fire Department thermal imaging cameras.

“The initial donation from Dennis and I was thanks for helping us to get back in business,” Short said.

Because of the Shorts’ fundraising campaign, the fire department was recently able to purchase seven thermal imaging cameras for $10,000.

“It’s basically like an X-ray machine for heat,” Fire Chief Aaron Wesley said.

The cameras allow firefighters to see areas of heat through darkness, smoke and walls or other barriers. Not only are the cameras useful for spotting hot spots remaining after a fire, the cameras can be used to see hot spots before a fire starts when the smell of smoke is reported, Wesley said.

Thermal-imaging cameras are potentially life-saving devices, Wesley said.

“If we go into a house and it’s filled with smoke, and the (firefighters) can’t see someone they’re trying to rescue, these cameras can show them,” he said.

The cameras also have uses outside of firefighting as well, Wesley said.

“If there’s a missing child or someone we’re searching for in a heavily wooded area or at night, these cameras can track and seek out the heat of a person and anything else that might be out there …  and you can see them,” he said.

With no money in the department’s budget to purchase the cameras, Wesley said the fire department is grateful to the Shorts for their fundraising.

“We are so thankful to them for actually doing this,” Wesley said. “We wish more people would step up like they did and help not only us, but the police department, too, because our budgets are tight.”

The Shorts plan to continue their fundraising campaign, with the goal of purchasing 10 more cameras, Short said.

“Each truck really needs two of these cameras on it,” she said. “It will just make for a safer community for all … and help keep our firefighters safe.”

Anyone wishing to make a donation should drop off a check made out to the City of Natchez with “thermal imaging campaign” written in the memo line at Darby’s, located at 410 Main St. Donations are tax-deductible.

“We are just so appreciative to everyone who has donated, and we don’t want them to stop donating,” Short said.