CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT TO INSPECT ELEVATORS

There was a time when firefighters knew the nooks and crannies of every city or commercial building like the backs of their hands.

But booming commercial and industrial growth over the past several years has expanded Cape Girardeau's outer boundaries so rapidly, that firefighters are unable to keep up.

"Because of the size of the city and the sheer number of buildings, firefighters today are required to do preplanning," said fire inspector Tom Hinkebein. "Effective preplanning can save property and personnel, not to mention making firefighters more familiar with what they are going into."

Within the next three weeks, local firefighters will be visiting area business to look at one area in particular -- elevators.

The 1990 Building Officials and Code Administrator (BOCA) building codes require elevator owners to submit copies of inspection sheets and tests performed by maintenance personnel to the city to be filed. Most businesses are following the regulations, Hinkebein said.

But to ensure universal compliance, firefighters will inspect commercial elevators, while filling out a survey for departmental purposes.

"One of the reasons we decided to do this is because Southeast Missouri State University had requested us to assist in elevator emergencies," said Hinkebein. "So we had our personnel go through a rescue training program and taught them a little bit about elevators.

"That gave us a great opportunity to put this kind of program into effect," said Hinkebein. "We had some elevator rescue training before, but never to the extent we do now."

When firefighters visit area businesses and commercial buildings, they will go equipped with a survey that must be filled out in detail. The survey includes checks of the machine room, the lobby, the elevator car itself, the doors, the pit and the top of the car.

"We have to know what type of elevator a building has, where the emergency shutoffs are, where the service key is located, how the doors work and the basic elevator structure," said Hinkebein. "Knowledge like that will assist not only in quicker rescues, but will also limit the damage that can occur during a rescue."

The fire department won't actually rescue someone unless the company that services the elevator will be greatly delayed in arriving to the scene.

"We will secure the elevator and then try and talk to people, keep them calm and tell them that help is on the way," said Hinkebein. "Unless there is some kind of medical emergency, we won't go down in there. There's just too much that could go wrong."

Once the surveys are completed, a copy will be sent to the state fire marshal's office. Other copies will be kept in all department fire engines and service trucks, to be at the firefighters' fingertips when they're needed.

"There are more than 60 elevators in commercial and city buildings in the area," said Hinkebein. "We're attempting to find out what we've got out there and how to operate the elevators.

"The main thrust is to allow us to become familiar with the elevators and equipment in case of emergencies," he said.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department will be performing inspections of elevators in the next several days. Hinkebein said department personnel will call ahead a day or so before visiting the business so that arrangements can be made to have the elevator's maintenance worker on hand.

Those businesses that are not contacted in the next three weeks, should call the fire department.