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LEWISVILLE, N.C. — New technology in the Piedmont Triad could one day save your life.

A bad wreck shut down part of U.S. 52 in Winston-Salem on Tuesday night for hours.

At one point, investigators feared someone had been thrown from the car involved, and they couldn’t find that person. That’s when the Winston-Salem Fire Department reached out to the Lewisville Fire Department for some high-tech help.

“They had conflicting information. There possibly may have been somebody in the car and because of the violence of the wreck they wanted to confirm that nobody had gotten thrown in the woods,” said Assistant Fire Chief David Kivett, with the Lewisville Fire Department.

The Lewisville Department recently got a drone with thermal imaging capabilities.

The camera picks up heat signatures which allows them to pinpoint the places their crews need to investigate. The technology also lets them cover a much wider area at a faster rate.

“Provides a different set of eyes on a scene whether it’s searching for somebody, what it may be, it provides that second or third or fourth set of eyes,” Kivett said.

With the help of the drone, investigators were able to rule out that anyone was ever thrown from the car.

Winston-Salem police say there was one passenger in the car and at last check, they were in serious condition.