AREA FIRE DEPARTMENTS DEPEND ON ONE ANOTHER

SCOTT CITY -- When you have couple limited resources of a volunteer fire department and a hot summer day, it's nice to know there is someone to call on for a little extra help.

Such is the case with the Scott City Volunteer Fire Department, and an agreement they have with the city of Cape Girardeau for added manpower during the summer months.

Last week, for the first time this year, Scott City called upon the Cape Girardeau Fire Department for, if nothing else, a second wave of men to throw at a structure fire.

"It's not that we couldn't put the fire our ourselves, in fact it was out by the time the Cape Girardeau engine arrived on the scene," said Scott City Fire Chief Les Crump at a city council meeting later that day. "It was a case of us having six guys on the scene to do everything that is involved with putting out a structure fire.

"By the time the fire was out and we were pretty well dragging our boots -- and it doesn't take long to tire in the heat, wearing all that fire gear -- Cape firefighters arrived, fresh and ready to go," Crump said. "They went inside and did a lot of the overhaul work, letting our guys catch their breath."

The sharing of manpower, equipment and trucks goes both ways in communities throughout the area.

On April 1, 1993, when a warehouse at near the corner of North Kingshighway and Independence caught fire, the Scott City Fire Department sent and engine and a crew up to Cape Girardeau's Fire Station No. 1, to field any calls the department received while its men were battling the blaze. The Jackson Fire Department sent two trucks and crews to help knock down the fire.

"Mutual aid agreements work everywhere, from the biggest fire departments right down to country volunteer departments," said Battalion Chief Mark Hasheider of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. "Cape is not capable of supporting all the equipment and manpower needed to fight a multi-alarm fire.

"That goes for all the departments in the area -- Jackson, Scott City, East County," he added. "But by working together and pooling all our resources, we can have what we need, when we need it."

During the earthquake scare of 1991, spawned by the faulty-prediction of Iben Browning, the Missouri legislature passed a bill requiring mutual aid agreements between fire departments and other emergency personnel, in case of a natural disaster.

"In accordance with the law, we signed an agreement with all the area fire departments and the road district -- for use of the front end loaders and dump trucks," said Hasheider. "But we had an informal agreement with those same entities long before it was required by law."

Hasheider said the needs of departments can vary with the situation.

"There are times when we'll get a call from Jackson, when all they need is our ladder truck," he said. "So we will send them the truck and the crew manning it that day.

"Other times you have fire suppression needs, extrication or even just overhaul -- like in Scott City last Monday," Hasheider added. "Whatever it is, we will always answer a call for help. No matter where it is."

Cape Girardeau Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch is an area emergency services coordinator. Part of his responsibility as such is assessing the needs of a situation, and finding the men and equipment to fill the needs.

"The mutual aid system has been very beneficial to everyone -- especially the taxpayer," said Jauch. "In this day in age, with money being like it is, it's like having the equipment and manpower you need on standby."