Project Charlie is working to see that every fire station in Alabama, and eventually the country, has these life-saving cameras.
A little girl’s death after being trapped in a house fire sparked one North Alabama volunteer fire station to take action—working to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family. So far, they’ve made quite an impact.
It’s been nearly three years since 7-year-old Charlie Carroll died from smoke inhalation. But her name has never faded from the Alder Springs Volunteer Fire Department—and neither has her impact.
Charlie’s grandmother, Judy Carroll, said, “I went to work one day, and when I got off, my life was different.â€
Judy Carroll’s life changed forever that night. Her free-spirited granddaughter, Charlie, was gone.
It’s a night Alder Springs Volunteer Fire Chief James Edwards says he and his crew will never forget.
“Our fireman found her, brought her straight out to me, and put her in my arms. I carried her straight to the ambulance, and I was with her until the doctor pronounced her at the emergency room,†said Edwards.
Since that night in 2022, Edwards has made it his mission to ensure no other family experiences this kind of loss. He started Project Charlie—raising funds to get thermal imaging cameras into fire departments across the state. These cameras help firefighters detect trapped victims through thick smoke and debris—something they didn’t have that night.
"That's how we can help if they need one and don't have the funds because we all work on a low budget. With Project Charlie, we can help get them another camera,†said Edwards.
Edwards believes a camera like that could have helped them reach Charlie sooner. But now, her memory lives on through helping others.
“Maybe that was what she was meant to do—protect other people and protect other kids,†said Carroll.
Since Project Charlie started, 80 thermal imaging cameras have been placed in fire departments across Alabama—50 of them in Marshall County alone, with others in Jackson and Madison counties. And they’re already saving lives.
"One of the cameras down south, they had an older individual lost in the woods, and they used the camera to find the individual,†added Edwards.
Edwards hopes to see every fire station in Alabama—and eventually, across the country—equipped with one of these life-saving cameras.
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