Gave it a run on battery today. 6x AA batteries through a standard 12v car phone charger. Got about 1:15, which is good. Expect the end result may vary some, particularly if/when a wifi interface is included, but this proves the basic necessity is fine. The choice of AA batteries is a pragmatic one; they're available anywhere in the world and easily sourced/replaced. The idea is that this is lowest common denominator; as the project is envisioned as a DIY guide for firefighters (or local helpful geeks), they can always choose to upgrade to a dedicated battery solution and likely greatly improve lifetime (but then require the unit to be plugged in to recharge, which is a problematic choice, things get left behind on station by accident that way). A possible solution there would be a pair of power systems, one charging and one sitting live on the truck.

With the BA sets we currently carry the maximum time in is about 45 mins, so this will exceed that. Realistically the thermal system is likely most required in the first 20 mins or so, once you get to that point you're quite likely to have initial knockdown and early stages of ventilation, so the thermal for interior searches is plausibly less critical. Still useful for finding hotspots, but that's a less time critical job, so popping out to put in fresh batts would be fine. Most likely the camera would be going back in with a fresh crew.