FIREFIGHTERS FROM OHIO CONTRIBUTE PRESSURE CLEANERS TO FLOOD EFFORT

They came to Cape Girardeau in a bright yellow van, loaded down with pressure washers for flood victims; they drove a long way to get here.

Two Finlay, Ohio, firefighters had been watching the floodwaters rise and fall in the Midwest throughout the summer and decided to mobilize their firefighters union to help flood victims clean up and get on with their lives.

The two raised more than $6,500 in Finlay -- a community of comparable size to Cape Girardeau -- with which they purchased 45 pressure washers for Southeast Missourians.

"We looked at a map of this area and saw that Cape Girardeau was just about the only sizable community in the region," said Tony Wolf, a Finlay firefighter and instigator of pressure washer campaign. "I called the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and spoke to the secretary three times before I ever told her who I was. I didn't want this to fall through and for me to end up with egg on my face."

After his union, Local 381 of the International Association of Firefighters, approved the fund drive and the money started rolling in, Wolf was put in contact with Charles Denson, a Cape Girardeau firefighter and president of Local 1084 of the same union, to which a majority of the city firefighters belong.

With Denson as a liaison, Wolf and firefighter Rod Phillips had a place to take the pressure washers after they were purchased direct from a Pennsylvania manufacturing company.

The two drove a donated rental van the 550 miles from Finlay to Cape Girardeau. Wolf, who also makes signs for Finlay businesses, designed two magnetic signs he attached to either side of the van, carrying the insignia of each union.

The two arrived late Wednesday after their 10-hour journey.

"We're sorry we couldn't have come sooner," Wolf said. "But when we heard that you all got more than six inches of rain in the beginning of October, we knew that there were people around who would still need help.

"I think we can still do some good," Wolf said.

The Ohio firefighters raised money by calling upon local businesses and service organizations, Wolf said.

"Once the word got out that we were raising money to help a city affected by the flooding, people started calling us," Wolf said. "People wanted to donate food and clothing, but we only had room for the pressure washers."

After being given a VIP tour of the city and its fire stations, the two men headed back to Ohio about midday Thursday.

Their haul -- the 1,000-pound per square inch pressure washers -- were left at Fire Station No. 1, at the intersection of Independence and Sprigg Streets in Cape Girardeau. They are available at no cost on a loan-basis to anyone, inside or outside the city limits, who has suffered flood damage and needs something to help clean the river scum off their homes.

For more information, call the Cape Girardeau Fire Department at 334-3211.