VIDEO: New cutting-edge technology to help firefighters and first responders was developed right here in the Bay Area.
It's called "C-Thru" and it allows firefighters to see through thick smoke when battling fire -- and a man from San Francisco came up with the idea.
The Menlo Park Fire Department has tried the technology and say it's a game changer.
During testing, this technology shaved off minutes of their response time, and that could be the difference between life and death.
Behind the technology -- a trip inside a volcano.
“While we were inside this active volcano, our team of 60 folks as we were trying to navigate inside the volcano couldn't see where we were going and it presented a hazard,” said the man behind the technology, Sam Crossman.
Inside that smoke-filled volcano nearly five years ago, Crossman realized a need to restore vision in high stress, hazardous conditions, not just for volcano explorers but also for firefighters, especially after his own scare last year at his Russian Hill home.